Featherweight Bryce Mitchell is up and about following a brutal KO at the hands of Josh Emmett at UFC 296 on Saturday, and the Arkansas native gave thanks… to the man who put him out cold.
That may seem like a bizarre twist, but Mitchell released a video statement on Monday, thanking Emmett for not following up on the crushing blow that dispatched him to the shadow realm with additional strikes.
My full thoughts after the fite Saturday.
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) December 18, 2023
“I’m so happy with Josh Emmett because right after he knocked me out, he could’ve followed up with the hammer fist, and it probably would’ve killed me. He didn’t even follow up with anything,” Mitchell, who is awaiting the birth of his first child, stated in the video. “He was just happy with his knockout and he walked away. I’m so gracious for that. I will forever remember that, and 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. It takes more of a man to actually do that. Everybody thinks you’re more manly if you hit them after they go down. It’s actually, you’re more manly if you walk away and care about that person. Thank you so much, Josh.”
The scene after Emmett connected was a scary one, with Bryce Mitchell prone on the canvas, legs twitching, whole body practically seizing. Longtime UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan hollered for the camera to be taken off Mitchell, given the possibility that he could be seriously hurt. When officials later helped Mitchell to his feet, with the fighter on wobbly legs, it was Rogan again coming to Mitchell’s aid, calling for them to sit the fighter back down, or at least keep a good grip on him.
Mitchell agreed with that call, saying that he didn’t remember anything between the knockout and arriving backstage.
“You took command of that microphone and said ‘do not let Mitchell stand,’ and you were absolutely right, Joe. I was totally out of it,” admitted Mitchell. “I can’t remember anything actually until they sat me down on the gurney in the back of the ambulance. So everything where it appeared that I wake up, and I’m talking to Dana [White] and talking to everybody, I don’t remember none of that. That’s not even me there.”
While Mitchell is now back at home, working on building a barn, it may be a while before we see the featherweight fight again— as a hefty medical suspension is likely following one of the scariest knockouts in recent history.
