Bryce Mitchell is looking at the bright side of life.
Despite suffering a frightening knockout loss at UFC 296, Mitchell (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is in good spirits and very grateful things weren’t any worse. Mitchell was knocked out by a huge right hand from Josh Emmett in one of the most brutal finishes of 2023.
Mitchell watched the fight on Monday and gave his reaction in an Instagram post.
“Hey, y’all. I just watched the fight back, and I wanted to give y’all my basically live reaction to it,” Mitchell said in the video. “My first thoughts were that was an incredibly hard knockout, and I’m really lucky I didn’t get hurt any worse because my head is not hurting, and I feel just fine. I’m right back to work. … I want to let y’all know that I’m so happy with Josh Emmett because right after he knocked me out, he could’ve followed up with the hammerfist, and it probably would’ve killed me. He didn’t even follow up with anything. He was just happy with his knockout and he walked away. I’m so gracious for that. I will forever remember that, and I love that whole team, that Alpha Male team. I love every single one of you guys.
“Thank you for not hitting me extra, Josh. It takes more of a man to actually do that. Everybody thinks you’re more manly if you hit them after they go down, it’s actually, you’re more manly if you walk away and care about that person. Thank you so much, Josh.”
After connecting the right hand, Emmett could’ve followed up with punches on a downed Mitchell, but he restrained himself from doing so before the referee stepped in.
Mitchell remained on the ground for close to a minute and was seen shaking on the broadcast. He then was assisted to his feet, and was walking on shaky legs as he was escorted out of the octagon.
The 29-year-old said he doesn’t remember a thing that happened until he was in the ambulance. Mitchell also had a lot of praise for UFC commentator Joe Rogan for recognizing that he needed to be assisted while still inside the octagon.
“God bless you, Joe Rogan,” Mitchell said. “You took command of that microphone and said, ‘Do not let Mitchell stand,’ and you were absolutely right, Joe. I was totally out of it. I can’t remember anything actually until they sat me down on the gurney in the back of the ambulance. So everything where it appeared that I wake up, and I’m talking to Dana (White) and talking to everybody, I don’t remember none of that. That’s not even me there. That’s like blackout drunk. I can’t remember nothing, nothing. It’s actually worse than that because at least if you’re drinking you kind of have a memory of what happened. I’m just so glad they sat me down on that gurney, and they got me out of there.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
