Bantamweight Bryce, Threat To The Machine?

Bryce Mitchell is very excited about his Bantamweight future.

“Thug Nasty” rose into the Top 10 as a Featherweight despite facing a significant size and strength disadvantage against many of the top contenders. Eventually, those issues came to roost, however, as some of the most powerful 145-pounders in the game like Jean Silva, Josh Emmett, and Ilia Topuria sent Mitchell running from the Featherweight ranks.

current top contenders like Cory Sandhagen don’t have a chance and are a waste of time. In fact, only Mitchell has a possible solution for “The Machine.”

“I think [the division] needs to be spiced up a little bit,” Mitchell told MMA Junkie. “It just needs somebody like me in there to shake things up, and I can almost promise you I’m going to shake things up … They need something exciting right now because let’s be honest: Nobody’s going to beat Merab. Who’s going to beat Merab? You’re going to have to call somebody that can beat him because right now literally nobody can beat Merab. So they’re going to realize that they need a guy like me. Here I am. Call me!”

He continued, “Cory’s going to lose, and that’s what’s going to happen. And you can watch the fight just to watch Cory get beat, but he’s not going to win. Nobody’s going to beat Merab unless they call somebody who knows how to. I love Merab, Merab’s actually a great friend of mine, and I can promise you he’s going to beat Cory. It’s boring! Nobody wants to watch him win and not fight. Everybody wants to see a fight, and I’m telling you, I’m bringing a fight to this division.

“It’s going to shake things up. It’s actually going to get people interested in this division again because once again, nobody wants to watch Merab win easily. … I’ve got the only resume that can even possibly compete with him. All these other fights, I mean I guess it’ll be a little bit entertaining because you get to see how Merab wins, but it’s not going to be a fight. Cory Sandhagen’s going to be fighting for air.”

Does Mitchell have what it takes to compete with Dvalishvili? The best argument I can come up with is that Dvalishvili’s most recent loss came via submission, and Mitchell is a very slick grappler. Even so, it’s hard to imagine Mitchell being able to match Dvalishvili’s pure physicality or general wrestling ability.

With a win Saturday night, Mitchell can start to make his case. As it stands, however, he’s a long way off.

LIVE! Watch UFC 318 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

LEGENDARY TRILOGY / BMF SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., July 19, 2025, with a thrilling trilogy set to headline UFC 318 from inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. In UFC 318’s PPV main event, Max Holloway defends his BMF title against former interim Lightweight champion (and No. 3-ranked contender), Dustin Poirier, in a high-stakes, five-round clash that will mark the final fight for “The Diamond” before he retires from the sport. UFC 318’s PPV co-main event features Middleweight contenders Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov in a pivotal 185-pound bout rescheduled from UFC 317. UFC 318 will also showcase a Welterweight clash between Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez, a Featherweight showdown pitting Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull, a Lightweight bout featuring Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber and much more! UFC 318’s start time is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET (“Early Prelims”), 8 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

Bryce Mitchell is very excited about his Bantamweight future.

“Thug Nasty” rose into the Top 10 as a Featherweight despite facing a significant size and strength disadvantage against many of the top contenders. Eventually, those issues came to roost, however, as some of the most powerful 145-pounders in the game like Jean Silva, Josh Emmett, and Ilia Topuria sent Mitchell running from the Featherweight ranks.

current top contenders like Cory Sandhagen don’t have a chance and are a waste of time. In fact, only Mitchell has a possible solution for “The Machine.”

“I think [the division] needs to be spiced up a little bit,” Mitchell told MMA Junkie. “It just needs somebody like me in there to shake things up, and I can almost promise you I’m going to shake things up … They need something exciting right now because let’s be honest: Nobody’s going to beat Merab. Who’s going to beat Merab? You’re going to have to call somebody that can beat him because right now literally nobody can beat Merab. So they’re going to realize that they need a guy like me. Here I am. Call me!”

He continued, “Cory’s going to lose, and that’s what’s going to happen. And you can watch the fight just to watch Cory get beat, but he’s not going to win. Nobody’s going to beat Merab unless they call somebody who knows how to. I love Merab, Merab’s actually a great friend of mine, and I can promise you he’s going to beat Cory. It’s boring! Nobody wants to watch him win and not fight. Everybody wants to see a fight, and I’m telling you, I’m bringing a fight to this division.

“It’s going to shake things up. It’s actually going to get people interested in this division again because once again, nobody wants to watch Merab win easily. … I’ve got the only resume that can even possibly compete with him. All these other fights, I mean I guess it’ll be a little bit entertaining because you get to see how Merab wins, but it’s not going to be a fight. Cory Sandhagen’s going to be fighting for air.”

Does Mitchell have what it takes to compete with Dvalishvili? The best argument I can come up with is that Dvalishvili’s most recent loss came via submission, and Mitchell is a very slick grappler. Even so, it’s hard to imagine Mitchell being able to match Dvalishvili’s pure physicality or general wrestling ability.

With a win Saturday night, Mitchell can start to make his case. As it stands, however, he’s a long way off.

LIVE! Watch UFC 318 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

LEGENDARY TRILOGY / BMF SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., July 19, 2025, with a thrilling trilogy set to headline UFC 318 from inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. In UFC 318’s PPV main event, Max Holloway defends his BMF title against former interim Lightweight champion (and No. 3-ranked contender), Dustin Poirier, in a high-stakes, five-round clash that will mark the final fight for “The Diamond” before he retires from the sport. UFC 318’s PPV co-main event features Middleweight contenders Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov in a pivotal 185-pound bout rescheduled from UFC 317. UFC 318 will also showcase a Welterweight clash between Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez, a Featherweight showdown pitting Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull, a Lightweight bout featuring Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber and much more! UFC 318’s start time is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET (“Early Prelims”), 8 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!