Din Thomas lauds Bryce Mitchell’s return to bantamweight but isn’t sure how he does against the upper echelon.
Mitchell (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) survived an early knockdown to out-grapple Said Nurmagomedov (18-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) en route to a unanimous decision win this past Saturday at UFC on ABC 9 from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Thomas, who served on the analyst desk for the broadcast, admits Mitchell surpassed his expectations.
“Bryce Mitchell was brilliant,” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “Honestly, going into this fight, I didn’t think he was going to win. I didn’t think he was going to make weight, much less win. I didn’t think the fight was going to happen. But I saw him hours after the weigh-in walking around the hotel just as vibrant, clicking his heels like he had just won the lottery and I was like, ‘Yo.’ I had to change my pick. He went out there and had a tough first round, and despite, that pulled off the win and just out dogged, out worked Said Nurmagomedov. It was brilliant.”
Mitchell told MMA Junkie he felt too small when at featherweight – especially in his most recent fights. However, Thomas doesn’t think Mitchell’s entry into the bantamweight division will make that much of a difference when it comes to the elite.
“The reality is this. These guys drop weight looking for sort of a magic pill or the answer,” Thomas said. “The reality is if you can’t win in the top five of your division, you’re probably not going to win in the top five of the division under you, either. It’s not necessarily a size thing for you holding you back. It’s really kind of a skill thing.
“Once he gets up against those top guys in the division at bantamweight, he’s still going to struggle. It doesn’t matter. … It might allow him to beat the guys at bantamweight a little bit easier. The guys he would already going to beat, he’s going to beat them a bit easier. But he’s still going to struggle with the top guys.”
