Bryce Mitchell Blames Flu for Poor Performance vs. Ilia Topuria at UFC 282

Thank y’all for the luv! pic.twitter.com/SCIJZSOK2I

— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) December 12, 2022

The featherweight matchup pitting Ilia Topuria against Bryce Mitchell that opened the UFC 282 pay-per-view was billed as a clash between two of the top young contenders in the division.

It turned out to be one-way traffic for Topuria, as “The Spaniard” battered his opponent on the feet and denied all but one of his takedowns before submitting Mitchell with an arm-triangle choke 3:10 into Round 2. Mitchell’s attempts at grappling were ineffective and he was outgunned on the feet in suffering his first setback in 16 professional outings.

According to “Thug Nasty,” there were more factors at play at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.

“I definitely got to let you know that definitely wasn’t me out there,” Mitchell said in a video on Twitter. “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, but I went in there with stuff hurting, not up to 100 percent. Like I said, I had the flu.

“I wish I wouldn’t even took the fight, but 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. It wasn’t even there one bit of the time.”

“The Ultimate Fighter” Season 27 semifinalist is now 6-1 in UFC competition, with victories over the likes of Edson Barboza and Andre Fili to his credit.