Bryce Mitchell feels underappreciated. ‘Thug Nasty’ has been on an impressive run since he joined the UFC after losing to eventual winner Brad Katona in the semi-finals of The Ultimate Fighter 27. Mitchell has lost only to undefeated featherweight title challenger Ilia Topuria in his eight fights at the promotion, climbing up to the #10 ranking in the featherweight division.

However, the 29-year-old has not been able to create the buzz so far that he thinks he deserves. And the American is looking to change that and announce himself in his upcoming short-notice fight. Mitchell spoke to former middleweight champion Michael Bisping about why his next fight is so important.

Bryce Mitchell to face Josh Emmett at UFC 296

#6-ranked Josh Emmet was supposed to face #8-ranked Giga Chikadze in a featherweight bout at UFC 296 on December 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. However, the latter was forced to pull out due to an injury less than two weeks after the fight. The UFC then offered the fight to Bryce Mitchell, who agreed to face Emmet this Saturday.

Mitchell joined UFC commentator and analyst Michael Bisping on the latter’s YouTube channel to discuss his upcoming bout. On being asked what he thought of Emmet, Arkansas observed that he was a tough, durable fighter who had proven his mettle against some of the best fighters in the division.

“Well he is just durable. He’s proven [himself], he’s fought in a lot of great opponents and that’s what also on the flip side makes it [so] you can’t argue it when I beat this guy,” the 29-year-old told the former middleweight champion.

He was, however, very confident in his victory and felt the results would be impressive enough to speak for themselves. “If I beat this guy, I’m proven and you’ll know it. You’ll know it by the results, the results will speak for themselves and it can’t be denied. And so that’s why I’m excited about this matchup,” he added.

Mitchell believes he is the best fighter in the division

Mitchell was confident in his abilities and told Bisping that he believed he was the best fighter in the division and that his upcoming performances would make people realize that this was the case. “And I’m telling you eventually people are going to realize I can fight with the best. I can beat the best, I believe I am the best and I’m just trying to convince everybody else of that,” the featherweight said.

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Clearly, Bryce Mitchell is looking forward to his fight against Josh Emmet at UFC 296. While he feels confident given his recent form, short-notice fights are always tricky. They may go horribly wrong, like they did for Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294, or they may go the other way, like they did for Michael Bisping, who won the 185-pound title on two weeks’ notice. Who do you think will win in the bout between Mitchell and Emmett at UFC 296?

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