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Bryce Mitchell Thanks Josh Emmett After Brutal Knockout at UFC 296

"Thug Nasty" is grateful for how his opponent conducted himself in the cage.

Drew Beaupré

Bryce Mitchell Thanks Josh Emmett After Brutal Knockout at UFC 296
Bryce Mitchell Thanks Josh Emmett After Brutal Knockout at UFC 296 /

Bryce Mitchell believes there’s a silver lining to the vicious knockout loss he suffered to Josh Emmett at UFC 296.

Originally scheduled to meet in the event’s featured prelim, Mitchell and Emmett ended up kicking off the UFC 296 main card after a welterweight bout between Ian Machado Garry and Vicente Luque was scrapped during fight week.

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The matchup was an important one for Emmett after he’d dropped back-to-back fights for the first time in his career, while Mitchell entered the night looking to snatch a short-notice victory after he stepped in to replace Giga Chikadze.

“Thug Nasty” ended up suffering the first knockout loss of his career when Emmett caught him with a huge overhand right just under two minutes into the bout. The scary finish left Mitchell twitching on the canvas, and in a recent video posted on social media the 29-year-old thanked his opponent for not landing any follow-up strikes.

They only shared the cage for a brief period at UFC 296, but Emmett was quick to respond to Mitchell’s post and showed nothing but respect for “Thug Nasty” and how he's handled the loss.

Emmett’s incredible knockout was a fantastic way to kick off the final main card of the year for the UFC, and the event also saw Leon Edwards and Alexandre Pantoja successfully defend their welterweight and flyweight titles in the promotion’s last two fights of 2023.

Mitchell went an impressive 15-0 as a professional before he was submitted by Ilia Topuria last year, and following his loss at UFC 296 the 29-year-old is now 1-2 over his last three bouts. 

The knockout victory was Emmett's first finish since 2019, and the win also keeps him in the title mix at featherweight following his own loss to Topuria and a failed bid for the division’s interim belt against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 284.

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