As noted earlier, UFC BJJ 11 was headlined by the closest thing to a PRIDE-style freakshow match: two athletes from different sports, a size disparity, and special rules. Mikey Musumeci vs. Bryce Mitchell brought in new eyeballs to their product, but as expected, it wasn’t much of a competitive match.
Despite the self-imposed rules of not allowing butt scooting and any of the leg locks he’s known for, the UFC BJJ bantamweight champion in Musumeci still dominated. Mitchell is a good grappler for MMA,
but Musumeci is the best in the world at jiu-jitsu and that massive skill gap was evident.
Instead of finishing the submission, Musumeci repeatedly just used leg locks to sweep and get top position. The first round had Musumeci sweep, pass and threaten with a deep anaconda choke. In the second, he got sweeps and a deep omoplata attempt.
The final round, Mitchell tried to make it dirty, mashing his head and forearm on his face, and even tried to slam him. It didn’t help him much though, as Musumeci eventually used a slick arm drag to get on top, pass, and eventually take the back. The much bigger Mitchell was able to just hold on and survive through several deep submission attempts on each round, including an armbar until the final bell.
They didn’t reveal the scores, but it might as well have been three 10-8s, as Mitchell had zero offense and just tried to stall and survive fully locked in submission attempts on each round.
“I couldn’t implement the aggressive strategy that I wanted to,” Mitchell said. “He used (leglocks) for sweeps, and could’ve really hurt one of my legs if he wanted to.”
Mitchell admitted he was in “survival mode” for most of the contest, and praised the “scrambly and sticky” jiu-jitsu star.
After the win, Musumeci reiterated his plans to switch over to MMA, saying it’s more fun grappling with more gritty and “rough” UFC fighters like Mitchell than pure grapplers.
The co-main eventsuper-fight saw a lot of controversy. CJI star Nick Rodriguez seemingly outgrappled UFC BJJ champ Mason Fowler in two of three rounds, but judges somehow managed to let him still retain the belt.
UFC BJJ 11 complete results
Full event results are below. Check here for more highlights from UFC BJJ 11.
- Mikey Musumeci def. Bryce Mitchell by unanimous decision
- Mason Fowler vs. Nick Rodriguez — Split draw. Controversial decision!
- Aurelie Le Vern def. Rana Willink by unanimous decision
- Jay Rodriguez def. Kevin Beuhring by submission (head and arm choke/inverted darce), R2
- Pedro Machado def. Lucas Norat by unanimous decision
- Jordan Holy def. Ryan Elgarico Jr. by unanimous decision
- Mason Stritzel def. Sebastian Zazueta by submission (heel hook), R2
- Daniel Deeder def. Kolby Gonzalez by submission (kimura), R3
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