Bryce Mitchell picked up an important win in his bantamweight debut after outgrappling Said Nurmagomedov for the better part of three rounds at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Things didn’t start out great for Mitchell after he got clubbed with a couple of stiff punches and then ate a knee right up the middle that sent him down to the canvas. To his credit, Mitchell survived and then just abandoned his striking all together before taking Nurmagomedov to the ground multiple times.
While he never really threatened with much on the ground, Mitchell’s control time and superior position got him the win with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in his favor.
“I’m happy with the win,” Mitchell said afterwards. “That was honestly my hardest fight ever. Whatever Dana [White] and Hunter [Campbell] and Sean [Shelby] want, I’m here to do. I never complain.”
With Mitchell pressuring early, Nurmagomedov blasted him with a couple of nasty punches including a straight shot following by a counter hook that backed off the American. Mitchell finally closed the distance and grabbed onto Nurmagomedov but couldn’t drag him to the canvas.
Mitchell once again got aggressive and he paid for it with Nurmagomedov perfectly timed a knee up the middle that sent the former featherweight crashing to the ground. Nurmagomedov followed up with some ground and pound with Mitchell defending on the bottom.
On the restart in the second round, Mitchell rushed across the cage and immediately brought Nurmagomedov to the ground after fending off a guillotine choke submission. From there, Mitchell started looking for an armbar and then an arm triangle choke but Nurmagomedov eventually scrambled out of the position and reversed him to get back to his feet again.
Once again, Mitchell was desperate to pull the fight into his world on the ground but Nurmagomedov resisted before an ill-fated spinning elbow finally put him back on the canvas.
A few moments later, Mitchell was once again deep on a takedown but it was Nurmagomedov who snatched a guillotine choke that landed him in the mount. Mitchell slipped free and got back on top again but he wasn’t creating much offense from a superior position.
Mitchell eventually took the back and locked on the body triangle but again he wasn’t doing any real damage. Still, his ability to control Nurmagomedov on the ground and never allowing the Russian any room to work helped him secure the victory.
The decision gets Mitchell back on track after falling to Jean Silva in his previous outing and he gets a fresh start in a new division after some ups and downs in his recent career at featherweight.
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