Bryce Mitchell is not showing up to UFC BJJ for a paycheck and participation trophy.
The UFC bantamweight is set to compete Thursday at UFC BJJ 11 against bantamweight champion Mike Musumeci. This match will be contested at featherweight, so it'll be a non-title bout. Although Mitchell might be getting an advantage size wise here, many see this as an uphill climb, given he's not a full-time jiu-jitsu competitor like Musumeci, and Musumeci is one of the world's best.
Yet, despite having a tough challenge ahead, Mitchell intends to get his hand raised Thursday.
"I don't want to go to distance," Mitchell told MMA Junkie Radio. "I want him to tap, so it's very decisive, and I want people to know I'm not a joke."
Mitchell feels this UFC BJJ carries a lot
of implications given who he's facing. So much that it even feels like he's getting ready for a UFC fight.
"For me, this match actually feels so important that it feels like a fight," Mitchell said. "I trained just like a fight, and I'm going to cut weight just like a fight. I think after the results of this you're going to see just as much commotion as a fight. Really, my goal is to do so good that people want more, and I think that's going to happen. I'm going to seriously bring it."
For now, Mitchell faces Musumeci in a non-title match. However, Mitchell wants to eventually have a UFC belt wrapped around his waist.
"I really want the belt," Mitchell said. "I really want to be a champion, and I want to be known as someone who's really, really good. How this goes determines whether we're going to do more in the future or not, but I really think it's going to go so well that the UFC is going to ask me to do another one."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Bryce Mitchell not looking for UFC BJJ moral victory vs. Mike Musumeci
