MIAMI – UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell insists he isn’t a Nazi, despite his recent pro-Adolf Hitler stance suggesting he’s at least a Nazi sympathizer, and he has Jesus in his heart.
Mitchell especially emphasized that last part during Wednesday’s UFC 314 media day, ahead of his highly anticipated fight with Jean Silva, as he invoked Jesus’ name repeatedly throughout his roughly 15-minute session with reporters.
“I know what I know, and I love the world,” Mitchell said. “I’ve never told anybody that I hated them because that’s against Jesus. That’s against what I believe in.”
Mitchell vs. Silva isn’t exactly a matchup of top featherweight contenders, with Silva (15-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) unranked and Mitchell (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) No. 13 in the official 145-pound rankings. And yet, they’re receiving third billing on Saturday night’s UFC 314 card at Kaseya Center (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Why that is isn’t hard to figure out.
Mitchell made his controversial pro-Hitler remarks Jan. 30, which drew an uncharacteristic chiding from UFC CEO Dana White. Roughly four weeks later on Feb. 26, the fight between Mitchell and Silva was announced, with fans viewing it as the UFC “feeding” Mitchell to Silva, whose four UFC fights have ended in knockout wins. A heated press conference last month, with Silva taunting Mitchell, only built the fight even bigger.
Mitchell admits he’s definitely feeling the hype – and finds comfort in the Lord.
“I know that this is the biggest fight of my life,” Mitchell said. “You know it, everybody watching knows it, and that’s just God’s plan. I couldn’t have made this fight bigger if I tried myself. This is the Spirit leading me into this. There’s nothing that I could’ve done to sell this fight. God put this fight together, and God’s purpose for me is to be up here and perform.”
Mitchell continued, “He says that he loves Jesus, but he calls himself Lord, and he doesn’t act like he loves Jesus. He doesn’t treat me with respect, so I go based off of that. Based off my interactions with him, he doesn’t have Jesus in his heart because he treats me like total sh*t. …
“I think his feelings are very ill, and it’s not gonna be fun when he’s getting his face smashed in.”
Mitchell, who’s 2-2 in his past four fights with losses to Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmett, is coming off a knockout win over Kron Gracie this past December. Mitchell enters UFC 314 as a betting underdog, with DraftKings listing him +215 and Silva a -265 favorite.
As far as Mitchell is concerned, nobody should feel shy about betting on him.
“I believe this is a great time for all my friends to bet and make a tremendous amount of money off of me,” Mitchell said. “Go ahead, bet the farm. This is the best odds that I’ve had in a long time. If you’re a betting man, cash your bet.”
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