Bryce Mitchell is admitting he was wrong.
Fresh off a solid rebound victory over Dan Ige at UFC Vegas 79 via unanimous decision this past weekend (Sept. 23, 2023), Mitchell has revisited an old beef he had in 2023. The now-UFC Bantamweight titleholder, O’Malley, and “Thug Nasty” bantered back and forth after Micthell called out “Sugar” for being “all talk.”
Mitchell’s comments came before O’Malley’s biggest split decision win (watch highlights) at the time over former champion, Petr Yan, at UFC 280 in October 2022. Having seen the fight, Mitchell has a newfound respect for O’Malley despite any shots back that he’s received. Oh, he also wants to convince the champion that Earth is flat.
“First off, the Earth is flat and I can explain to you how,” Mitchell said on Instagram. “Second off, you can be a farm boy as soon as you make up your mind, O’Malley,” Mitchell said. “I want to apologize to ya, Sean. I want to tell ya that the only bad thing I’ve ever said about ya really is before your Yan fight I picked Yan and said that your YouTube following wouldn’t win you the fight. Boy, was I wrong ‘cause you lost that fight, in my opinion, and your YouTube following helped persuade the judges for the decisions. But that was an absolutely respectable performance against Yan. That was a fight that I knew you could scrap and man, you made me look like a total fool after that fight.
“Don’t think that I think that you’re stupid, that I think that you’re gay, or whatever, dude,” he continued. “I don’t care what people say about you, all I said was that your YouTube following couldn’t win you a fight, and I was wrong (laughs). You looked damn good that fight brother, you showed so much heart and courage. I want to take my words back, and I hope you can forgive me.”
O’Malley went on to win the title from Aljamain Sterling by second round technical knockouts (watch highlights) at UFC 292 this past month (Aug. 19, 2023). As for the outside activity, “Sugar” isn’t the first person Mitchell has challenged to a conspiratorial debate.
“As a Christian, I have to admit when I’m wrong attacking somebody, and that was a bit of an attack, and it was unprovoked,” Mitchell said. “I’m sorry, I hope you can forgive me. Now, that being said, here’s my business proposal for you. Have me on your podcast, I’ll tell you how the Earth is flat. I’ll tell you all the proof of it, you won’t be able to beat me in an actual argument, a debate with facts. I’ve done a lot of research.”