Bryce Mitchell’s latest appearance did not go according to plan.

Just a couple of months after his last fight in the UFC, Mitchell returned to action looking to stay active in the sport. Despite his well-known grappling background, this one did not go his way.

He first made waves with an unbeaten start to his MMA career, highlighted by a rare twister submission against Matt Sayles back in 2019. But more recently, ‘Thug Nasty’ was outclassed on the mats.

19-year-old BJJ standout lands quick submission over Bryce Mitchell

Mitchell’s first professional loss came at the hands of Ilia Topuria, and he has not been able to string together consistent results since then. But after a submission loss to Jean Silva, Mitchell made a move down to bantamweight and debuted in Abu Dhabi this past July.

Following his win over Said Nurmagomedov, ‘Thug Nasty’ has shifted his focus to the 135-pound title. But before fully committing to that path, he took a break from MMA for another venture.

On September 12th, the UFC fighter entered the Eddie Bravo Invitational 25 lightweight tournament in San Antonio, Texas. The 16-man field included notable names like two-time ADCC trials winner Ethan Crelinsten and two-time IBJJF no gi world champion Gianni Grippo.

Mitchell advanced past JJ Bowers in the quarter-finals but was quickly stopped in the semi-finals by rising 19-year-old BJJ prospect Landon Elmore.

https://twitter.com/UFCFightPass/status/1966686202154647852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

After Mitchell carried Elmore out of bounds following a flying triangle choke attempt, leading to a reset, the teenager quickly secured a leg lock, forcing the UFC fighter to submit in under a minute.

Despite missing out on gold himself, Mitchell said afterwards that he still plans to continue competing in grappling events outside of MMA.

Bryce Mitchell believes he can beat Merab Dvalishvili

Mitchell is expected to return to the cage to pursue his goal of reaching the top of the bantamweight division, following his recent appearance on the mats.

While plenty of people remain sceptical about his chances of getting there – something not helped by his debut outing – ‘Thug Nasty’ is confident in what he brings.

He even believes he is the one who can beat champion Merab Dvalishvili, claiming no one else in the division has what it takes.

“(The bantamweight division) 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!

“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. … I’ve got the only resume that can even possibly compete with him,” he told MMA Junkie.