Bryce Mitchell says he would have been far from 100 percent if he competed at UFC 288.
Mitchell (15-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) was scheduled to face Movsar Evloev on Saturday’s main card at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., but withdrew due to a back injury. He was a replaced by newcomer Diego Lopes, who’s stepping in on five days’ notice.
Mitchell says a disk injury caused him to have limited mobility, making it difficult for him to fight.
“What happened is, I tore out my back,” Mitchell said on Instagram. “It’s a reoccurring (sic) injury. Basically, I have a disk problem where my neck flares up, the nerve in my back locks up. My whole back is as stiff as a board and it takes days where I can do anything, even touch my toes.”
Check out Mitchell’s full statement below:
“I’m gunna come back healthier and it shouldn’t take too long. I wanna thank the UFC for bein very understanding and hopefully the fans aint too mad either. cant wait to put on a show for yall.”
“Thug Nasty” was looking to rebound from his first loss, a second-round submission defeat to Ilia Topuria at UFC 282 in December. Prior to that, Mitchell scored a lopsided unanimous decision win over Edson Barboza at UFC 272.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
