Las Vegas — After a scary knockout at the hands of Josh Emmett almost exactly a year ago, featherweight Bryce Mitchell makes his return at UFC 310, against the most unlikely of opponents: Kron Gracie.
Mitchell (16-2) sits ranked at #13 in the 145lb weight class. Gracie, who turned pro a decade ago, is unranked, has been on the sidelines even longer, and thus far, has fought seven times in the past decade, amassing a 5-2 record coming into UFC 310.
While the record might not be there, however, the name value is. Kron Gracie is, well, a Gracie, a name synonymous with MMA. Many were surprised by the match-up, as was Bryce Mitchell himself, but he didn’t hesitate in accepting the fight.
“Absolutely,” Mitchell said during the UFC 310 media day this week, asked about the offer surprising him, “and it took me about two seconds to say yes. Because it’s a Gracie, and they’ve got that name.”
“His family is so legendary, these people have done so much for the sport. To even have the Mitchell name next to the Gracie name, that just elevates the Mitchell name because the Mitchell name is nothing. So I’m trying to build it up. It’d be an honor to have a name like the Gracie name. This is the best match-up they could have made for me, and like you said it came out of nowhere. I’m just happy about it.”
If Mitchell vs. Gracie came as a surprise, the placement of the fight on the UFC 310 main card was even more of a shock. The fight sits above former champions Chris Weidman and Aljamain Sterling, the latter of whom faces Movsar Evloev in a key featherweight battle.
“Aljo is more deserving of being on the main card, absolutely. That’s a fact, it’s undebatable,” Mitchell admitted on Wednesday. “They probably wanted more views on the prelims, that just makes the most sense to me. That’s one of the best fights on the card, Aljo versus Movsar. You put that on the prelims and people see it, and then they want to buy the Pay-Per-View.”
“So it’s definitely not because I’m worthy of it, but dude I’m going to freakin’ go hard, because I know that being on that main card is such an honor,” he continued. “And I do think that the fans are happy about it too. I’m going to give them what they want, it’s going to be a hell of a show.”
Watch the full UFC 310 media day appearance by Bryce Mitchell above.
