Bryce Mitchell adamant only he can beat Merab Dvalishvili: 'I'm going to shake things up'

Yahoo

16 hours ago

ABU DHABI – Bryce Mitchell plans on breathing new life into the UFC bantamweight division.
Mitchell (17-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) takes on Said Nurmagomedov (18-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in his return to 135 pounds on July 26 at UFC on ABC 9 (ABC, ESPN, ESPN+) from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Mitchell, who's trained with UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) in the past, thinks the division has hit a stagnant point and is confident that he can make some noise with his arrival.
"I think it needs to be spiced up a little bit," Mitchell told MMA Junkie of the bantamweight division. "It just needs somebody like me in there to shake things up, and I can almost promise you I'm going to shake things up. ... They need something exciting right now because let's be honest: Nobody's going to beat Merab. Who's going to beat Merab? You're going to have to call somebody that can beat him because right now literally nobody can beat Merab. So they're going to realize that they need a guy like me. Here I am. Call me!"
Could it be expected title challenger Cory Sandhagen? Mitchell was quick to dismiss the No. 1 contender's chances. "Thug Nasty" believes that with his size and grappling credentials, he's the only one who can truly push Dvalishvili.
"Cory's going to lose, and that's what's going to happen," Mitchell said. "And you can watch the fight just to watch Cory get beat, but he's not going to win. Nobody's going to beat Merab unless they call somebody who knows how to. I love Merab, Merab's actually a great friend of mine, and I can promise you he's going to beat Cory. It's boring! Nobody wants to watch him win and not fight. Everybody wants to see a fight, and I'm telling you, I'm bringing a fight to this division.
"It's going to shake things up. It's actually going to get people interested in this division again because once again, nobody wants to watch Merab win easily. ... I've got the only resume that can even possibly compete with him. All these other fights, I mean I guess it'll be a little bit entertaining because you get to see how Merab wins, but it's not going to be a fight. Cory Sandhagen's going to be fighting for air."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC's Bryce Mitchell adamant only he can beat Merab Dvalishvili