“It probably would have k*lled me” - Bryce Mitchell thanks Josh Emmett for not following up with hammer fists post-KO at UFC 296
Bryce Mitchell has a lot of respect for how Josh Emmett handled himself in the wake of their fight ending.
Just shy of two minutes into their UFC 296 contest, Emmett KOed Mitchell with an overhand right that went viral thereafter. Many were concerned for Mitchell with the volatile nature of the knockout, the subsequent seizure, and the inability of his overall body as he aimed to stand in the cage afterward.
Emmett showed a lot of composure by not landing any follow-up strikes on the unconscious Arkansas native. This was a gesture and reaction clearly not lost on the 29-year-old Mitchell who took to his personal Instagram account to address his feelings on the matter.
In a clip shared to X from his Instagram account, thugnasty_ufc, Mitchell said,
"You know got a lot of work left to do but that's what I'm up to. But I wanted to let y'all know that I am so happy with Josh Emmett. Because right after he knocked me out, he could have followed up with the hammerfist and it probably would have killed me."
"He didn't even follow up with anything. He was just happy with his knockout and he walked away. I'm so gracious for that. I will forever remember that. I love that whole team. That Alpha Male team, I love every single one of you guys. Thank you for not hitting me extra, Josh."
Check out the clip of Mitchell commenting on the Emmett KO below
Bryce Mitchell's UFC tenure so far
Mitchell entered the UFC on the heels of a run on The Ultimate Fighter season 27 in early 2018 and is now a ranked featherweight.
'Thug Nasty' is currently the UFC's No.10-ranked fighter at 145 pounds as of this writing. Bryce Mitchell has secured a win via twister inside the octagon and outside of the rare submission has definitely garnered some name-value wins. Fighters like Charles Rosa, Andre Fili and Edson Barboza have all been bested by the 29-year-old Arkansas warrior.
Bryce Mitchell fell to the UFC's next featherweight title challenger when he was choked out in the second round by Ilia Topuria at UFC 282. Mitchell rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige in September before the aforementioned setback to Josh Emmett over the weekend.