Featherweight Bryce Mitchell speaks with ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto about his loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 282 and more in our …
what’s up guys Brett okamoto from ESPN joined by UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell it’s my first interview of uh 2023 and we’re getting it started on the farm in Arkansas with Mr Mitchell how was how was Christmas and how was how was your New Year well dude what an honor I didn’t know I was the first interview wow we’re going to start this year off right brother absolutely Christmas was awesome I gained my weight back I’m back to you know what I walk around at normally I ate a bunch um I’m still eating actually I got my stomach back because like when you cut all that weight it takes a while to get your stomach back like you can’t eat normal sized meals I mean it’s just I can’t at least everybody else’s body is different but for me when I cut like 20 pounds or whatever um it takes me a while I trust me I’m back I’m back to eating everything that I normally eat yeah how much better is life when you’re eating what you want I mean is that how difficult of the sacrifice is that for you well when you’re cutting weight you’re not really living you’re you’re surviving and there’s a difference when you’re living your life you’re enjoying it and you’re doing stuff you’re meeting objectives and goals and you’re flourishing you’re getting better one foot is in front of the other when you’re cutting weight you’re dying and you’re you’re barely surviving on low calories for a short amount of time because it’s non-sustainable obviously you know what I mean if you were if you were to take a fighter at the weight cut and continue the same pattern he’s on to the next day like it no no what he did that day he did it again the next day a lot of these people would die they’d drop dead brother because they’re they don’t almost die trying to make the weight if they did the same thing the next day they would die you know it ain’t fun no man absolutely not um and I mean every fighter basically every fighter especially the highest level goes through it um I don’t know I’ve ever really talked to you much about a potential weight class change or it’s just like it’s a necessary evil to make that weight or have you ever thought about 155 have you are you thinking about 155 or 145 is your oh Lord no brother heck no I’m tired of fighting these dudes it’s already bigger means you see how much bigger Edson Barbosa was than me hell no I’m about to fight the beaver some hell no dude that I mean I’d have to be armed to even think about that hey let me tell you what um the number one thing that’s messed up with this sport that’s easy to fix because all the other stuff that’s messed up with the sport I feel like you’re never gonna fix that the corruption of this to that that’s never gonna fix but I’ll tell you what dude they can fix this in five minutes do no more cutting weight you show up and you fight with the way at and I mean dude like I walk around 165. you know and so I’d either fight 170 or 165 and that’s just show up that day you get on the scale that day five minutes before you get in the cage and every person that has not fought or even if they have they’re going to have an opinion on it but they’re all wrong I’m just telling you that’s how it should be yeah and you know they’re not the ones cutting away saying oh yeah this is great for us this is great the fans ain’t even getting as good of a show and the fighters are getting a less I think it’s part of part of the reason they have is cut weight is because uh it’ll kill us off quicker I don’t know maybe I’m a conspiracy theorist or whatever but I feel like um I don’t know that I don’t know man it really does kill you quicker though cutting all that weight it’s not good for you and Fighters would have longer careers and make more money if they didn’t have to cut the weight I feel like I hope we see it man I hope we see it I think the reason that it happens is because it’s one of those deals where if one guy does it everybody’s got to do it because then that’s that’s an advantage right but I think I’ve always thought the only way to really do it is to a California um did a little bit with this is they do a hydration test and so it just shows you this person when they’re hydrated NCAA college wrestling is doing it as well when you’re hydrated this is what you weigh so that’s what you fight at but um yeah it’s I see it feels like it’s like a long ways away from all the commissions and acting something like that but I hope someday because I completely agree with you I think basically everybody does it’s just one of those weird things that everybody says is dumb but the sport still does you know right and hey I’ll be the first one that does it if y’all need a guinea pig we just need me an opponent find them 165 167 that’d be a perfect cut off 167. because I’m about 165 but if I eat a bunch I’ll be 167 but if you you could find somebody that says hey I’ll fight Bryce Mitchell 167 pounds we weigh in five minutes before we go on octagon two minutes we weigh in right before we step in octagon I’ll do that I promise I’ll do it I’ll be the guinea pig I’ll tell y’all how it goes yeah I hope so man because a lot of people talk about like more weight classes or this or that I just feel like if the commissions and the promotions just just made it so that that hydration test was put into effect and just to change the culture of it I think if the culture changed then it wouldn’t even be that big of a deal and it would feel normal again it would be a lot more safer but here’s the thing with the hydration test is that I don’t even think if you just showed up and just fought at what you weighed it would be necessary I’m talking like a literal no weight cut like you show up and then enter the Octagon I mean literally like the sketch you know where Dan margliata come and he patch it down and he says you got your mouthpiece and he’s putting the grease on you I think these need to get on a scale right there I mean right there in front of everybody okay I got my shorts on so I’m allowed one pound so if I agreed to 167 I’ve got my shorts on and my gloves maybe a pound and a half because I wasn’t thinking about the gloves but I mean right there right before you step in the cage now um you can monitor somebody’s walking around wait that week so like say you show up a week before the fight you could weigh in right when you get there and say okay is it realistic is this guy going to weigh in at the 167 that he says will he come in at 164 165 yeah he’ll make it this week but you know it would be obvious if you’re going to make the weight or not that way you would know plenty of in advance if you’re going to make the wait or not there wouldn’t be a concern and be like oh you know okay he weighed 165 all week he’s gonna make it and there’s no need to do all this cutting there ain’t it’s just it’s it’s part of the game it’s the stupid part but I mean good thing for me is I know how to do it and it sucks but uh you know it just it’s unnecessary it is what it is 100 unnecessary and I wasn’t planning on having a long conversation with you about weight to start off this interview but uh I I appreciate the the conversation about it because it is it is um it’s unhealthy and it is dumb because you guys are just rehydrating back to the same weight anyway so hopefully uh hopefully something will change but like I said I don’t think the commissions right now are in a place that they’re really going any change is coming soon but hopefully man hopefully as this sport continues to get older that that will change we’re talking about fights and we’re talking about you fighting 165 pounds there’s a video out there a lot of people saw that you know one of the first thing that you said when you went back um to the locker room after losing to deportio is that you just did not want to do this anymore that you wanted to invest your energy into something else that it hurts too much you didn’t want to feel that anymore um can you talk about that moment because obviously I think that that caught a lot of people’s attention they’re like hey this guy was undefeated and and that was a real raw moment that we got to see back in your locker room oh yeah well you know I wasn’t undefeated I’d still had losses and stuff um but you know I couldn’t even stand up on my own so uh I was not saying the most intelligent stuff um you know I ain’t been drunk in a while because I stopped doing all that stuff but I can imagine back when I was younger you know one time I got carried out of this Mexican restaurant they gave me some I was drunk going into the damn restaurant dude I mean it was like They Carried me out of the restaurant if I did something or said something in that restaurant um they defended somebody I you know I would definitely apologize for whatever but you know I was actually so drunk I was doing this like while they were eating and stuff but anyways well you’re in that state you got to realize um you’re not completely normal you’re not thinking rational you’re not you know what I mean and so um you know I was really mad I was being really hard on myself and I’ll be honest with you Brett if that’s the best I could do I swear on my life if that’s the best I could do I would retire because that was terrible I was in a lot of pain I was tired immediately when the fight started I mean within the first couple of minutes I was tired and if that’s the best I could do I retire I’d be done I’d never do that again but I know I can do better and after thinking about it and knowing how much better I could have done yeah I’ve got a different opinion on the fight so you’ve talked about uh you were on your Instagram talking about the flu that’s what you’re referring to yeah is it basically you weren’t yourself in that fight no dude I was jacked up that wasn’t me at my best and um I don’t know man I had a lot of circumstances you know going on and people don’t really see all the stuff that the fighter is contemplating before the fight what the factors are and this and that and I just don’t think I was at my best you know and honestly know I had a couple thousand bucks in my bank account uh and they told me that you know you’re not gonna fight again uh if you don’t take this fight we’re not finding you one till February they said we’re booked and so it’s like you can live off a couple thousand bucks in your bank or you can fight December 10th and if not you know off till February and so I said you know what I don’t want to live on a couple thousand bucks till February and I would have made it because I could have scrapped by I really could have and maybe I should have but at the at the time I thought I’d win the fight brother I I thought I was going in there with the flu to kick somebody’s ass anyways and uh that just wasn’t the case I was not capable of kicking ass that night um I was capable of taking an ass kicking I did do that pretty well but um you know I thought I was gonna win if I would have known Brett how I would have felt walking into the cage and I’m not talking like scared or or I’m talking like when I when I went to throw punches they weren’t hard you know what I mean like I was gasping for air but I felt very comfortable in there the whole time going into the fight I thought yeah I’m gonna kick this guy’s ass you know but I just wasn’t there you think if you had more than a few thousand dollars in the bank account that you still would have gone through the flight then what you’re saying is like yeah so it was even though you were confident you were going to win it was the money yeah I was wanting I was wanting some money and I thought I would win and I thought even though I was sick I’m still gonna win and uh I thought maybe he’ll hit me a couple more times because you know I might be a little bit slower I feel you know it but no I was way slower I was jacked up I probably should have waited till February I didn’t know that you know what I mean I honestly thought and that’s everybody thinks I’m trying to discredit my opponent when I talk about me having the flu no I’m not that dude is good I’m talking even if I would have gone in there healthy I promise it would have been a good fight I still think I’d have won but it would have been a good fight that guy is good he’s very good I’m not discrediting him I’m just telling you the truth and the truth is that people deserve to know if they paid money to watch me fight they deserve to know that I was not at my best and the next time they pay to watch me fight I will do better and that’s why I come out and tell the truth about it is because uh people that are paying their money to watch the fight especially to watch me fight they need to know I can do better and they need to know exactly why I look like and uh I was fighting a very good guy while I felt like and uh they need to know that I can do better and and that’s why I come out about and I don’t feel bad about spreading the truth I mean if I was sitting up here telling you something that wasn’t true it’d be on my conscience but you know everybody’s going to make fun of me they’re saying oh you’re you’re blaming the loss on the flu well yeah I guess I kind of am you know I I don’t know what to tell you I felt like and I think I could have done better and I’m being honest with you I honestly think I shouldn’t have took the fight but I don’t give I did and uh I’ll I’ll I can do better than that you know yeah I gotta say as somebody who interviews people on a regular basis in this sport I get really sick of uh oh he’s making excuses thing like I appreciate when people draw back the curtain and let us know what’s going on in their lives I appreciate you telling us that like hey there were some Financial things that were going on around your life and that’s why you took the fight that’s why you couldn’t pull out of the fight unless you didn’t feel well and that if if that was if you did feel well and that was a good performance by you that you wouldn’t want to do this anymore because you wouldn’t think that you could hang with the very top like I appreciate that type of honesty I like that it tells us more about you so these people who are like on Twitter telling you it’s excuse making I I want to tell every fighter and I do tell Fighters all the time like like it’s almost like you have to say like I’m not making an excuse I’m not making use when you tell us what happens like what goes on behind a fight you know it’s like it’s not excuse making it’s just telling us what happened you know I I’m I’m I’m kind of making excuses but my excuses are backed by science okay and the Sciences the fluency up okay and I shouldn’t I tell you what brother I’ve got an excuse for every every loss that I’ve ever had and by excuse I don’t mean like other people are responsible I mean I should have done something better and I know that what I could have done better uh my first loss is amateur brother I had a hole in my chest I took the fight with staff you know what I mean my opponent missed weight by five pounds or I killed I was at 35. my first loss dude almost broke my arm to this day my arm don’t work right all the way it works right most of the time but you you ever have a seat belt on in the car and you go to reach for something and the seat belt locks up what do you have to what do you have to do to unlock it like pull on it you know you have to you have to go back yes my arm’s the same way you have to if my arm locks up I have to go back slow and then it’s re-extended but my arm locks up like a seat belt uh but that was on my amateur loss I had a hole in my chest man and that was at 35 I was on them antibiotics but there was a hole in my chest brother I mean I shouldn’t have took the fight I had the staff and there was this stuff the person was was coming out a couple days before I shouldn’t have took the fight The Ultimate Fighter hell I shouldn’t even been on the show let me tell you about the ultimate fighter Brett I went on that I didn’t even train all I did was ride a bike for six months I rode my bike for six months and showed up on Ultimate Fighter and and because I couldn’t train because my back for six months I couldn’t train I was riding my bike so I I went on The Ultimate Fighter just off riding my bike brother I couldn’t shrink as my back I could hit pads but that was it I couldn’t even hit them too hard because if I twisted too hard but when I went to fight on the actual here’s the thing is on The Ultimate Fighter when I went to fight um when I fought uh Jay cuccinello and Brad Katona my back did not hurt during the fight it just so I’m not saying during the fight my back was hurting it miraculously stopped hurting the week of my fight my back did but but for six months going into Ultimate Fighter brother I could not train I could not grapple like hard I was riding a bike I’m not kidding you I mean I can’t make this up and so I mean imagine but I didn’t want to Turn Down The Ultimate Fighter I couldn’t I couldn’t twist my back left and right and I couldn’t wrestle I mean imagine not wrestling somebody hard for months and months and months and then just going in the cage and being like I’m gonna do the best I can and that’s what I did on The Ultimate Fighter you know I was underweight I was under trained I was fighting through injuries and I’m capable of better but the reason I come out and I tell you the truth Brett is is because I know that I’m capable of Veteran I know that’s the truth and I just want to be as honest as I can with you you know but here’s the thing I’m not saying that none of my opponents are not good that’s what you know they have their injuries too they have their sicknesses too they’re dealing with financial issues too I’m just telling you my side of the story how I know I can be better if I didn’t have that hole in my chest when I was an amateur I could have done better if I didn’t take this fight with the flu I know I could have done better I couldn’t even breathe in there bro I couldn’t even breathe uh and on The Ultimate Fighter if my back was a little bit better for that six months before a fight I think I’d have done better but I still did as good as I could in the moment you know what I mean like I fought as hard as I could against deporia that’s all I had in the tank but uh still I could have done better if the tank was a little bit more full when you’re an amateur okay yeah when you’re entering the ultimate fighter okay you’re now in the UFC you’ve been there for multiple fights and you’re in you’re inside the rankings and I understand that it’s it’s happened for you pretty quickly and I think that’s part of it but this financial side of it I mean we’re talking about you know weight cutting and how that could be improved I think a lot of people would sit here and say a guy who’s ranked in the top ten shouldn’t be saying that there’s only a couple thousand dollars in this bank account how did that happen and and is there something that needs to change within the sport or like but how do you view that that your situation where you felt like you had to fight in December and not your best because of financial reasons well I didn’t have to I wasn’t dying for the money I could have made it I would have not starved to death for sure I wasn’t going to starve to death and all my bills would have been paid but then I just kept thinking well what if they tell me a fight in February and then it don’t happen in February and there was it was uncertainty I didn’t know what was going to happen if I didn’t took the fight and I in my head I told myself well I’m gonna win anyways you know what I mean and so I just took the fight even though I was not in 100 condition um I took the fight but you know here’s things with my money too is like I invest it it’s not like I just waste it but I chose to invest it and uh I knew that I would only have a little bit left and I was expecting that fight to come around I was expecting the win money too and so um I don’t know you know I’m not really complaining about the financial side of it but to say it wasn’t a factor that would be a lie but I’m not complaining about my financial situation I’m very happy I’ve I’ve I try to invest my money especially in the real estate uh Farmland whatever even equipment I invest in this old equipment I like these old tractors I like these old Cutters uh I want to I want to make money off of hay one day you know and I cut a couple hundred acres last year and uh I did really good but I got some old Cutters and stuff I got a brand new cutter now and um I got some old equipment that I’ve invested in but it’s nice equipment but anyways I’m investing in things that I think I can make money with not things like a freaking Ferrari that’ll probably go down in value or a gold watch that might go down in value so um I’m not I’m not mad about my financial situation I’m very happy very blessed but I was a little bit worried about not having money till February and so I you know I took the fight when I probably shouldn’t have and that was one factor making me want to take it was the money but it wasn’t the only thing I also didn’t want to be a and I wanted to show that uh that I’m not a and then I showed up and fought uh when I said that I would even though I was hurting and uh I just wish I wouldn’t I wish I wasn’t sick dude because I want I wanted to fight Brett I wanted to I mean I really wanted to I was not in the physical capacity to do it um or at least to fight well I was I had the capacity to get my ass kicked I didn’t have the capacity to kick nobody’s ass that night you know I was at I was at half capacity or whatever it was are you able to take anything um like skills wise or technique-wise or like like you said Elias very good and I mean you guys are top 10 um and everybody in the top 10 is going to be so skilled so athletic so prepared just being in there even when you weren’t at your best did you feel like this is my level I I mean and and and skills wise I’m right there with everything like were you able to learn anything through that or because of how bad you felt you just it’s kind of like you just throw the whole fight out but you can’t throw the whole fight out because we still got to see what I do under a stress test where um I can’t really generate a threatening offense how I survived and I didn’t survive very well but my problem is is that I went into that fight I think thinking hey I’m gonna be fine I’m going to have my normal energy and I did my normal routine I went in there and I shot a whole bunch if I could go back Brett I probably wouldn’t have even shot a takedown because but in the moment I was not accepting what I was capable of and and if I look back at it I I would tell myself going in that fight I said look don’t even shoot a takedown just go in there and Jab and Jab and cross and throw a couple kicks and uh just save your energy you know what I mean but I was fighting like I would normally and if I would have readjusted my strategy I know I could have done better um could have probably went all three rounds um but I really gased myself out shooting a lot of takedowns um and stuff like that where you know my normally I shoot those takedowns in them I don’t feel that tired but after those take nights I was like man you know I’m I’m really out of breath I probably should have struck probably should have just done Jabs and crosses and saved some energy and I would have took a hit better that way as well because I wouldn’t have been as tired when you can breathe and you got your lungs about you you can take hits better and so if I would have just jabbed cross bounced a little bit more um but I mean he did good he he attacked the calf he attacked the body he did good but I was landing on him too you got to realize like I was touching him but it wasn’t doing nothing and and I know I’ve got power in my hands and if we rematch I know I can touch him uh how quick with everything that went on and the fact that not only are you coming off of a loss but you came off a loss in which like you didn’t feel like like you were able to perform up to your standards are you real anxious to get back in or would you like some time off what’s like a time frame of seeing you again I’m probably too anxious to get back in because I think I need to actually heal myself I probably took a lot of brain damage on that one uh you know that stuff I don’t think it ever recovered but a couple months would definitely help you know but I am anxious to prove that I can do better I’m not going to lie to you I uh I’d like to get in there I do better right now you know what I mean like if we fought today I’d do better than I did a couple weeks ago whatever month ago whenever we thought but uh yeah I feel like I could do better right now I’d love to prove it um I’m gonna wait till I run out of money again and I’m gonna take another fight but I’ll I’ll be out of money oh it should probably be by Summer that’s how you decided when you’re going to fight on the time frames of your fight is just what’s what the number is in your bank account that’s it that’s well yeah that that’s a that’s a big factor and then um I mean like God is the biggest Factor if I feel like I should be taking the fight because I just have this feeling you know and that whole fight man I can’t tell you how good I felt um going into the fight how prepared I was to win I had I had the mindset of a champion going into that fight brother I was so prepared I did all my I was in such good shape and uh I felt the presence of God he you know I remember going into the fight just just talking to God saying you know we’re gonna be this is it you know we’re strong we’re gonna win and and uh I had that feeling that I always get before fights and I don’t know you know I love that feeling and when I get that feeling that I want to fight and then I’m ready to fight and then I need to fight it’s something I can’t really explain you know like but when I have a feeling that it’s time to fight that’s when I just tell I call my manager Matt Weibel I say hey let’s look for something let’s look for something and so to actually get that fight on December 10th like we had been looking for months he said I mean so it’s not like oh well if you don’t fight the poor you we’ll get you one next week it’s like I’ve been trying for a month bro for three months I’ve been thinking okay Bible I’m ready to fight can we find something month goes by nothing month goes by nothing month goes by nothing another month goes by hey we got you this guy named mobstar I don’t give them what his name is let’s go oh that fight canceled month later though hey Mitchell if you want to fight to pour you you have to next month if not until February so I said let’s go in December you know what I mean and so you know it if I could just okay hey I got the flu let’s fight next week I would but that’s not the case if I don’t fight now I’m living off of a couple thousand bucks till February and so I took the fight but um I thought I would win bro I thought I was gonna go in there and win I didn’t know I was gonna lose that bad I mean it’s not it’s not your your situation is not so much different than any other fighter out there but to hear you lay it out like that it’s just like man and you said you know you were drunk that night you know or the equivalent of it and you were saying things you didn’t mean but what I guess like the last question and then we’ll see uh you know what this year how this year plays out when we see you again in the Octagon there’s obviously a ton of fights still left for you um in that division but uh like what what keeps you in it I guess you know like the way you’re describing it it just sounds awful it sounds like an awful way to to live your life of not knowing Financial stability not knowing when you’re going to work you know having the the possibility that that fight might fall apart on you in any given moment I mean I guess what keeps you um what keeps you in this in this lifestyle that doesn’t sound like it’s so easy to navigate sometimes well um I do feel that I have a extremely good natural ability to do this and to be a world champion and so that’s I really just want to be the best at something and that’s what really keeps me going but um outside of fighting what I’m trying to do here at the farm is set up a lifestyle brother where I don’t even need money where me and my family don’t need money and if you can create your own food you can create your own shelter what do you need money for nothing nothing so I take this fight money and I pay off my farm with it I buy old equipment with it in the hopes that one day there’ll be a day where I’m World Champ I can retire and I can live off the farm and I’ll never go to town again I’m gonna live on the farm I’m gonna barter I’m gonna be done with money I’m pulling my money out the bank and I’m buying old four tractors with it and I’m done spending money I’m gonna grow my own food I’m going to barter my own food you know that’s the goal is to just try to save up um and it’s and and I’m blessed to be able to do this and uh I’m I’m not complaining about the financial situations I don’t want y’all to think that I’m not I’m happy with with at least having the option of MMA fighting there you know what I mean I’m happy with it but I’m talking about you know the reality of the situation is that the these Fighters they’re gonna go from fight you know Fighters like me if you’re like poyer McGregor or uh Madison doll I’m talking like the rich people like yeah they they’re they could retire legit not have to worry about nothing but mostly spiders are going to be like me they’re going to make money they need to invest in something and then you know live off scraps until that next fight and then invest it and uh you know that’s just the truth of it you know that but that’s almost any job and think about this as like I used to paint houses for a living um you know the fumes will kill you you know fumes kill you just as like punches do you know so I’d rather get punched than go down by fumes because I I mean I’ve painted whole factories I painted houses brother I painted hundreds of houses I painted factories I’ve painted uh outside fences decking all that you know I used to paint you know I’m a painter people don’t know that I’m a painter okay so I’m gonna paint this picture how it is for you I don’t care what you are what you’re doing you’re sacrificing some of your health for some of your job um some people more than others like if you’re a painter that’d be my alternative I’d be painting right now brother I’d be breathing in quick dry fumes and I’d be covered in sheetrock and texture it’s like okay do I want to go get punched twice a year or do I want to sheet rock and breathe in quick quick dry six days a week you know and these are these are options we live with bro and I just make the best that I and I don’t always make the best options but I think that I am I’m making the best decisions I think that I you know I’m trying my best and so uh with MMA I feel like if there’s nothing else that if I just do perfect that and have a good run I can retire like that nothing legal I think it’s something legal where you do in two years would you agree I could have 10 million dollars in my bank and be like the next Israel artist Sonia and be say I knock out volkanovsky cold okay and then go on three fights knock out three other contenders I’d beat 10 million in the bank don’t you think yeah that’s that’s what this job that’s what this this career promises it has the the tantalizing possibility of that right that’s right it’s tough to get to it’s tough on your on your way to get there besides lottery tickets and illegal activities what the else can I do to get 10 million dollars in my bank in three years now I can go knock Alexandra vulcanovski the out and get 10 million dollars and I’m tired of him talking about there’s no other contenders he ain’t fighting the toughest that’s what’s up with him he’s getting the easy fights these contenders are taking each other out that’s what’s going on he’s getting paid a hundred times what I get paid the fight because it ain’t even as hard as I’m fighting that’s what’s going on so Alexander volkanovsky he wants to fight an easy Contender right here somebody he can just beat up and get paid Easy Money hey come on buddy I’m easy money come on yeah that’s the perfect way to end up the first interview of 2023 man we covered a lot of ground Bryce I appreciate it dude we knew we’ll do it more often we’ll do a few of these uh these interviews over the course of the Year I’ll stay in touch with you and we’ll find out what your next fight is man looking forward to seeing you back in uh back in Action good dude please do holler at me thank you so much for having me on and and we’ll stay in touch brother thank you so much thank you for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming Sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus