Bryce Mitchell wants to fight The Korean Zombie! The in form American holds a 15-0 record with six of those coming inside the octagon and there is only one opponent on his mind.
The 27-year-old thinks he needs a win over a big name to help him earn a title shot. Speaking to former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub on The Schaub Show he shared that name,
“Korean Zombie is the highest-ranked guy that I could possibly fight and the reason that I believe that he is because he’s a two-time title contender. He went and fought for the belt two times.”
Easy target
While some might see The Korean Zombie as an easy target as he is coming off a devastating defeat Mitchell explains that he is eager to fight an opponent who has already challenged for the title twice,
“There’s other guys that are up there, that are really high up. Ortega’s booked, Holloway’s booked, but there’s other guys that might be up there but they didn’t fight for the belt twice.”
He sees it as an opportunity to show that he is better than Jose Aldo and Alex Volkanovski. Mitchell feels beating The Korean Zombie in better style than either of these two did would make a major statement,
“So if you go in there and beat Zombie better than most champs, Aldo and Volk, beat him… I think it took Volk maybe two rounds. Say I go in there and beat Korean Zombie in first round, that would give me grounds to fight Volk immediately. I’d say I just fought the dude he fought and did a little bit better, and that would be the best fight.”
"That is the most painful move in fighting!"
THUG NASTY! Bryce Mitchell gets just the second 'Twister' submission in UFC history!
Incredible scenes at #UFCDC 🔥 pic.twitter.com/S8OFzMvUFm
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) December 8, 2019
Demoralizing defeat
Although Chan Sun Jung was on a winning streak heading into his title fight with Volkanovski at UFC 273 the manner of defeat must have been demoralizing for the Korean who hinted at retirement afterwards. The fight was totally one sided from start to finish and it is no surprise that featherweights feels he is there for the taking.
The Korean Zombie has pledged to fight on and would love nothing better than to prove people wrong by beating another contender. But there is another element that makes Mitchell’s call out more intriguing.
They are the only two men to ever win a UFC fight with a twister,
“I also think it’s twister vs. twister,” Mitchell added. “If one of us twister’s each other that settles it right there on who’s got the better twister. I want to fight for the belt, and I think I win all of them. I think whoever they put me in there with, I’m winning.”
The Korean Zombie has admitted that he has no chance to win the UFC title. So he seems destined to remain a gatekeeper for the rest of his career.
It is nor a role the 35 year old will relish but he does have three wins from his last UFC fights. The young featherweight contenders, like Mitchell, are looking to claim his scalp and there are plenty of opponents out there for The Korean Zombie.
