Jon Anik doesn’t think the betting odds accurately reflect the Bryce Mitchell vs. Jean Silva matchup.
Mitchell (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) is a moderate underdog against rising featherweight contender Silva (15-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC 314 main card at Kaseya Center in Miami.
Mitchell turned plenty of fans against him after making controversial pro-Adolf Hitler comments, which Silva fully capitalized on during the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference last month. But Anik said people seem to forget Mitchell’s strength of schedule in the UFC, which includes wins over Edson Barboza and Dan Ige.
“Whether he’s lifting weights in blue jeans and boots or not even wearing any clothes, he’s putting in the work,” Anik told MMA Junkie of Mitchell. “He’s one of the hardest workers in the game. You’ve always seen him go to great lengths to travel and train with high level training partners. I just think Bryce Mitchell’s commitment in totality to martial arts is what gets lost in all of this. I don’t have to tell you about his ground fighting exploits. Outstanding submission guy, a really great ground striker. He has heart, he has toughness, fight IQ, durability.
“He’s got a little of different things. The betting line would suggest to you, with Jean Silva at -325, that he’s going to need every bit of them to come through as a +260 underdog, but I do believe based upon the narrative and some of what he has said, we are losing sight of just the mixed martial arts matchup. You can count me among the surprised, despite The Fighting Nerds success and Jean Silva’s ability to in all phases and his death-touch power, -325 against a guy as tried and tested in the UFC as Mitchell? I just don’t see.”
Silva has kicked off his octagon tenure with four stoppage victories, most recently a first-round Performance of the Night TKO over Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC Fight Night 252 in February. He called out Mitchell after the win and got his wish.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 314.
