(Video) UFC’s Bryce Mitchell actually quit MMA in aftermath of beating he received from Ilia Topuria

Benny A. King

Ilia Topuria was charged up before his chance to face off with Bryce Mitchell. Mitchell is an American country boy, filling his days with farming, rapping and hunting. He’s also an avid flat Earth ‘researcher’ – something Topuria took offense to.

“I’m going to rip his [Mitchell] head off, make him spit his liver. I have bombs in both of my hands. He will try to take the fight to the ground. That’s fine for me…but why go there if I can smash his head [and] leave it as flat as he thinks the earth is.”

And by the looks of it, Topuria succeeded.

When the buzzer sounded it was clear Mitchell was outclassed in the striking department.

Mitchell first ate a leg kick that clearly made an impression. He tried for a takedown in Round 1, but Topuria’s grappling is quite a site to behold and he managed to get right back up and free himself.

Mitchell landed another takedown – this time he landed inside TOpuria’s guard. He attempted to throw ground and pound from this position but had limited success. The subjective impression was that Topuria had won the round.

In the 2nd round, Topuria pressured Mitchell. Mitchell again shot for a takedown. Topuria stuffed it effectively. But things started quickly deteriorating for Mitchell who was eating significant shots in between grappling exchanges that clearly had him dazed.

In the end Topuria opted to try for a arm triangle near the fence and was successful in securing the tap.

Official Result: Ilia Topuria def. Bryce Mitchell by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 2, 3:10

But what we were all unaware of, is that it was so bad that Mitchell actually decided to spontaneously quit MMA backstage.

Leaked footage revealed the drama that was going on behind the scenes.

“I’m just feeling … I guess regret, you know?”

“I just know I could have done better. I’m just in so much pain that I don’t think it’s worth it to keep going. I want to stop with MMA and I want to take every little bit of focus that I spent every day on MMA, I want to put it into something else.” – Mitchell told his team members backstage.

“Everything is meant to be and I’m just going to move on with my life and take all the energy I spent doing MMA, and I’m going to put it into something else,” he repeated. “I think I’m going to be extremely successful.”

“That’s why I’m just saying I should f—ing retire after that dude before I go any further, and move on with my life. I just don’t ever want to feel this much pain.”

The video cuts to one of his coaches.

“His trick is how he kicks back from the loss,” he said. “Take him a little time off, get some things done, and I guarantee you he’ll probably regain steam and motivation.”

Mitchell was affected by UFC’s recent gambling scandal and had been forced to abandon James Krause’s team. Krause had been cornering Mitchell for a while.

It’s unclear if he changed his mind considering that he posted a video explaining his bad performance with a flue bout that coincided with UFC 282 couple of days later.

Mitchell  released a statement addressing his defeat at UFC 282:

“Hey, I just want to let ya’ll know I’m feeling just fine. I’m home, and I want to thank you for all of the love and support. I definitely gotta let you know that really wasn’t me out there. I had the flu the week before, and I thought I’d just tough it out. I didn’t feel good at all in there. That wasn’t myself. I trained a lot harder and could’ve performed a lot better…”

Mitchell added:

“You know, I went in there, stuff hurting and not up to 100%. Like I said, I had the flu. I wish I wouldn’t have even took the fight. I didn’t know it would mess me up that bad. I thought I would be able to hang in there for all three rounds because that’s what I trained for.”

“I trained for my cardio to be there the whole time, but it wasn’t even there one bit of the time. I’ll come back stronger. I just hate going out on that one. I don’t like that, but I will be better. I’ll be alright. Thank yall.”