Bryce Mitchell has a new submission win on his résumé, at least by his own account, and the opponent had antlers. BJJDOC ran it on Oct. 10 under a headline saying the UFC fighter bragged about finishing a deer with a rear-naked choke. Beyond that headline, the coverage I’ve seen doesn’t include the play-by-play. So I can’t tell you how long the deer lasted, whether it defended the hands, or who was refereeing. I wish I could.
The timing is the funny part. On Sept. 24, Mitchell walked into the bowl at UFC BJJ 11 at Meta Apex for a featherweight grappling match against Mikey Musumeci, the four-time IBJJF black belt world champion and former ONE Championship grappling titleholder. Musumeci won a decision. Yahoo Sports and MMA Mania both described the result as Musumeci dominating Mitchell, and both noted Musumeci had offered modified rules for the crossover. That’s a polite way of saying the jiu-jitsu ace gave the MMA guy some help and still ran him over.
Musumeci didn’t even have to suffer for it. “This weight class 145lb with Bryce; I actually weighed in under the limit this time at 142lb. So I was under the weight, and it was not even a weight cut for me,” he said after the match, according to Essentially Sports.
That match turned out to be Musumeci’s last as UFC BJJ bantamweight champion. He announced on Instagram that he’s vacating the belt to prioritize MMA training, and the promotion confirmed it during the UFC BJJ 12 broadcast. His record with the belt was clean. MMA Fighting counted four title-match wins in UFC BJJ, all by submission, before the Mitchell decision. He says he’ll keep doing grappling super fights for UFC BJJ, and Yahoo’s write-up suggested more crossover bookings like the Mitchell one are likely. Musumeci also told reporters he sees 125 pounds as his natural MMA weight. He hasn’t announced a date for his debut.
The vacant bantamweight title goes up in the main event of UFC BJJ 13 on Oct. 29. Musumeci’s teammate Jalen Fonacier, a 21-year-old two-time IBJJF world champion who is 4-0 with the promotion, faces Kleber Barboza. Barboza earned the shot in his promotional debut by winning the UFC BJJ Opens in Las Vegas.
As for Mitchell, none of the reporting I’ve seen mentions his next booking, in the cage or the bowl. Outlets aren’t even agreeing on his division. Yahoo listed the Musumeci match as featherweight, and MMA Fighting called him a UFC bantamweight.
Here’s my take, and I’ve lost money on dumber things than this. A deer is a terrible matchup for Mitchell to brag about because it has no grips, no hooks and no idea what a rear-naked choke is, which makes it the exact opposite of Musumeci. Two weeks ago he couldn’t get a finish on a 142-pound grappler who handed him friendlier rules. Now he’s finishing wildlife. If somebody posts a line on Mitchell vs. a second deer, I’m taking the deer at plus money. Mitchell walked out of the bowl on Sept. 24 without a submission, and the only one he’s claimed since came against an opponent that couldn’t file a protest.
