‘Thug Nasty’ Released From Hospital: ‘It Could Have Been A Lot Worse’

Bryce Mitchell is okay.

Mitchell suffered a scary loss tonight at UFC 296 (Sat., Dec. 16, 2023) when he was knocked unconscious by Josh Emmett from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights). Mitchell was convulsing on the ground after the knockout.

UFC officials confirmed to MMAMania.com that Mitchell was transported to a local hospital immediately after the knockout for a precautionary CT scan of his head and face.

During the UFC 296 post-fight press conference (watch here), UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Mitchell was released from the hospital.

“Yeah, he’s been released. I’m sure he’s not great. But he’s good,” White told the media. “He’s healthy. He passed all his tests and has been released from the hospital. And he was, like, halfway through the show.”

After returning to his hotel room, Mitchell took to his Instagram to react to his knockout loss.

“Hey, I want to let everybody know that I’m okay,” Mitchell said. “I want to thank y’all so much for watching. I’ve just been so blessed this weekend I cannot complain about anything. And really, where I messed up is a poor strategy. So, my strategy was to stick to the jab, make my reads, work my feet, kind of sit on the outside, but that put me to where I’m not putting that forward pressure that I really liked to put. It also made me look timid, and that’s not how I fight. I fight very aggressive.”

And so I encourage anybody who’s got a fight in their life, not just a fist fight, I’m talking about any type of fight, be aggressive and attack it because at least if you go down, and you lose that battle, you’re gonna know, you fought, and you went head on towards it,” Michell continued. “And so just a bad strategy by me tonight. And, gosh, Josh hits hard. He’s so low to the ground when he throws that overhand right. It’s hard to hit him with anything. And what can I say, you know, I could have done better, but obviously didn’t..And obviously, I wish I could have performed better for you. But my best was not enough tonight, and if I switch my strategy up, I think it will be. So that’s the thing, you know, hit the drawing board, come back, and I’m good. You know, it could have been a lot worse. When I was in that hospital, I was getting rolled by people with no legs, no arms, you know, faces all messed up, face turned sideways, you know, so I cannot complain about anything. I’m so happy to be here. And I’m healthy. And I love y’all, and thank you.”

After starting his career 15-0, Mitchell has lost two out of his last three fights via finish.

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For complete UFC 296 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.