Heading into UFC 272, Bryce Mitchell scoffed at the traditional grappler vs. striker label before meeting Edson Barboza. He came to fight.
Despite those sentiments, Mitchell also stuck with what works.
Mitchell used his standout ground game to his advantage against Barboza, earning a dominant unanimous decision by scores of 30-25, 30-26 and 30-27 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. With the win, Mitchell remains perfect in his overall MMA career.
“I’m a warrior of God,” Mitchell told Joe Rogan during his octagon interview. “I fear no man. I live and breathe this sport.”
Each round played out similarly, with Mitchell securing takedowns and pummeling Barboza with ground-and-pound.
In Round 1, Barboza (22-11 MMA, 16-11 UFC) found success early with leg kicks, but Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) managed to drop Barboza with a straight left hand and quickly followed up to secure a takedown as Barboza tried to recover back to his feet. Mitchell controlled top position for the next three minutes, throwing a combination of short punches and elbows to soften up Barboza. The round ended with Barboza finally getting to his feet and landing a couple of body shots and straight right hand, but it was too little too late.
Mitchell wasted no time in Round 2, securing a takedown 20 seconds into the frame. Again, there were no major attempts by Mitchell to advance position but neither did Barboza try to escape. That allowed Mitchell to continue raining ground-and-pound on Barboza, who was leaking blood from above his left eye.
Barboza needed to turn Round 3 into a standup battle but couldn’t after Mitchell shot in for a double leg and scored the takedown 60 seconds in. The rest of the round was more of the same from Mitchell, who picked up the biggest win of his career.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 272 results include:
- Bryce Mitchell def. Edson Barboza via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-27)
- Kevin Holland def. Alex Oliveira via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 0:38
- Serghei Spivac def. Greg Hardy via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:16
- Jalin Turner def. Jamie Mullarkey via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:46
- Marina Rodriguez def. Yan Xiaonan via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Nicolae Negumereanu def. Kennedy Nzechukwu via split decision (29-27, 27-29, 29-27)
- Maryna Moroz def. Mariya Agapova via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:27
- Umar Nurmagomedov def. Brian Kelleher via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:15
- Tim Elliott def. Tagir Ulanbekov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ludovit Klein def. Devonte Smith via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Dustin Jacoby def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
