Bryce Mitchell vs. Kron Gracie feels like an outright insult.
In isolation, the fight itself is fine. It’s not a good booking, because Gracie absolutely does not deserve a ranked opponent after consecutive losses and outright flaccid performances. Nobody should be rewarded for ugly guard pulling slop, equal parts hard-to-watch and embarrassing for everyone involved.
At the same time, Josh Emmett darn near killed “Thug Nasty” one year ago (watch it). Mitchell believes a ton of outlandish nonsense, but he was smart enough to recognize a long layoff and step back in competition were necessary for his health. If he’s to resume his previous status as a ranked Featherweight, this is a good career move.
I’m cool with handing Mitchell a favorable bounce back match up, particularly since he took the Emmett bout on short-notice. Gracie is sort of a name at least. Add in some potential for fun scrambles between expert grapplers, and okay, the baffling match up starts to make a little more sense.
But … why the f—k are fight fans being asked to pay for it?
This is not a fight that deserves to be on a pay-per-view (PPV) main card. Mitchell is a massive favorite who should win easily, and so it’s not very compelling. Nor is it overly likely to be especially entertaining, as I cannot help but feel the most likely outcome is a 15-minute display of “Thug Nasty” kickboxing combined with Gracie guard pulls.
Is that worth $16 (1/5 of the UFC 310 price tag) to anyone reading? Asking fans to pay for The Gracie Experiment in the midst of holiday spending is outrageous.
I am still baffled Kron Gracie is on a Main Card in 2024pic.twitter.com/jAqdr16PvP
— Ocelot MMA (@Ocelot_MMA) December 3, 2024
It’s not like there aren’t better options on the very same card. Aljamain Sterling vs. Movsar Evloev is very possibly a title eliminator in an exciting division. “Funkmaster” defended his UFC belt multiple times! Evloev is undefeated! It’s a top-notch match up.
I get it: Sterling’s last bout versus Calvin Kattar was boring (right?). That happens sometimes when an expert wrestler is able to dominate a striker and render him defensive. We’ve seen it play out countless times in every division. What happens, however, when two masterful wrestlers with high-volume kickboxing cannot control one another on the canvas? Well, that’s an obvious recipe for an “Usman vs. Covington”-style scrap, and I’ll take that over Mitchell vs. Gracie any day of the week.
Even if UFC brass is seriously convinced that Sterling vs. Evloev is going to suck, there are so many better options down UFC 310’s fight card (see it here). Reyes vs. Smith, Gorimbo vs. Luque and Brown vs. Battle are all more likely to be worth that 16 bucks. Heck, there are three fights on the EARLY “Prelims” that are more interesting and worthy.
I’m left with a simple question: who is this for? This fight card is already held together by duct tape and prayer. It’s leaning heavily on a Flyweight main event featuring a debuting title challenger. UFC 310 could use every bit of help in moving PPV units, and booking Mitchell vs. Gracie on the main card is the opposite of convincing.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 310 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ ”Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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