Bryce Mitchell doesn’t like his chances of competing on May 2.
Mitchell (12-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is scheduled to face Charles Rosa at UFC on ESPN+ 32 in Oklahoma City, but because of the coronavirus outbreak, he doesn’t think it’s likely the fight happens as planned.
“You know, if there were bets to be placed on it, I’d probably bet it wasn’t going to happen,” Mitchell told MMA Junkie. “If I had to be honest with you, it’s probably not going to happen and if it does, they might not do my fight, like the prelim fight. They might just do the main event or something.
“I doubt (it), but I’m going to train like I’m scared that another man is going to try and kill me, and when I’m in that mindset – somebody’s trying to kill me – and I gotta be in good shape, I’m going to be in good shape, and I’m going to train just like I’m fighting somebody on that date.”
Mitchell’s fight with Rosa started coming together on social media, when Rosa respectively called him out. Mitchell was happy to oblige.
“My manager runs my Twitter, and he was telling me this dude was calling me out and he said, ‘I’m going to agree to fight him for you,’” Mitchell said. “I said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine, especially if he’s calling me out. That would be great.’ And so we agreed to it on Twitter.
“I said, ‘All right, I’ll fight him, and I’ll try and shut him up.’”
Rosa returned from a more than two-year layoff last October, scoring a first-round submission over Manny Bermudez. Prior to his return, Rosa competed in April 2017 before Mitchell even joined “The Ultimate Fighter.”
So Mitchell admits that he wasn’t too familiar with Rosa.
“I think I’ve heard the name before, but I’ve never done any film study,” Mitchell said. “Never even seen him fight before. I’ve done some film study and seen who he is since then.
“There’s a very good chance it could go to the ground, and I see me winning.”
Mitchell was a breakout star in 2019, capping things off with a “Submission of the Year” over Matt Sayles at UFC on ESPN 7, scoring only the second twister in UFC history. He’s taken relatively long breaks in between fights, but there’s a reason for that.
Mitchell wants to make sure he’s a much more refined version of himself the next time out, a formula that has worked for the undefeated Arkansas native.
“It takes time to improve,” Mitchell said. “If you could instantly improve then anybody can just instantly jump up off their couch and get good at MMA, but it takes time. And so, I want time between fights to progress and another reason is, I have to put on a lot of weight. I have to put on a lot of muscle because that weight cut takes the muscle and the weight off of me, so I don’t want to turnaround and fight in two months.”
That being said, if Mitchell’s fight on May 2 does end up getting postponed, it won’t be too much of an issue for him personally.
“With this coronavirus, it’s going to be a long time before I fight, but I train all the time,” Mitchell said. “It’s not like I’m just taking off and not training. I’m training all the time, and I think the longer that goes by, I think the more prepared I am, and I’ll be prepared May 2. But if the fight gets postponed, I’ll be even more prepared.”
Bryce Mitchell doubts UFC Oklahoma City fight happens, but he'll stay ready for it