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Bryce Mitchell is proving to be a problem for anyone in the featherweight division.
In the co-main event at UFC Vegas 12, the former Ultimate Fighter contender used his suffocating grabbing game to bring Andre Fili to the ground repeatedly for three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory. While he had a battle on his hands throughout, Mitchell still earned his fifth straight victory in the UFC with the judges giving him the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 on the scorecards.
Afterwards, Mitchell seemed unwilling to celebrate, as he was highly critical of his own performance.
“I do better in the gym,” Mitchell said. “Just a bunch of things I have to work on. I shouldn’t have let it roll. I don’t want it to escape when I take it down. “
As soon as the fight started, Mitchell was quick to bring Fili into his world on the ground as he immediately looked to advance his position to set up his versatile submission arsenal. Every time Fili tried to escape, Mitchell was quick to thwart his attempt while displaying incredibly strong grappling play.
After spending much of the first round on his back, Fili was determined to keep the fight going in the second round. The Team Alpha Male fighter showed quick hands with pop behind his punches as he spilled out of several attempts by Mitchell to land the takedown.
During an exchange, Fili exploded with a jump knee strike that caught Mitchell off guard and shook him momentarily before he could finally bring the action back to the canvas.
With five minutes remaining, Mitchell returned to his fight as he looked to push Fili against the mat to help secure the victory. Fili was very busy but still spent most of the round playing defense, which obviously didn’t help him with the judges.
In the end, Mitchell’s ground control was too much for Fili to overcome as the Arkansas native took the victory by unanimous decision. Still undefeated in his career, Mitchell is already ranked in the top 15 at featherweight and this will certainly help him win another high-profile fight when he returns to action.