Bryce Mitchell wants everyone to know there’s nothing fake about his beef with Jean Silva at UFC 314.
Following a recent win at UFC Seattle, Silva called for a bout with Mitchell and the matchmakers granted him his wish, setting them up for a featherweight contest this Saturday in Miami. While Silva is certainly motivated to take Mitchell’s spot in the rankings, he’s also eager to knock Mitchell down a peg after the Arkansas native made heinous comments in support of Adolf Hitler while also spreading Holocaust conspiracy theories on his podcast.
Silva has ramped up the trash talk, mocking Mitchell for some of his more outrageous beliefs, but he told MMA Fighting he expects their feud to be settled on fight night.
Mitchell isn’t so sure.
“He says that he loves Jesus, but he calls himself ‘Lord’ and he doesn’t act like he loves Jesus,” Mitchell said at UFC 314 media day on Wednesday. “He doesn’t treat me with respect. So I go based off of that. Based off my interactions with him, he does not have Jesus in his heart because he treats me like total shit and I’m not afraid to say that to his face. If you love Jesus, then treat people with respect and that’s not what he does.
“Jesus has two commandments: To love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Does he treat me as he treats himself?”
Asked again if he’s truly convinced Silva has it in for him, Mitchell gave a straightforward response.
“I think his feelings are very ill and it’s not going to be fun when he’s having his face smashed in,” Mitchell said.
One of Mitchell’s more outlandish claims heading into the fight is that Silva is responsible for hellish nightmares he’s been experiencing since their matchup was announced.
He clarified that he doesn’t actually blame Silva for what happened to him, though he didn’t back down when it came to detailing his supposed ordeal.
“I don’t think that Jean has anything to do with my dreams,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think he’s doing any type of witchcraft, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is Satan has put a spell over me when I sleep that I’m seeing these demons and I see legions of demons and I’ll fight them with my fists. I’ll fight them all night. I hit them and they fall down, I hit them and they fall down, but then I wake up covered in sweat and I’d go back to sleep and it would be just beautiful women trying to tempt me to cheat on my wife in my dreams and this happened for two weeks in a row.
“That’s when I knew that this is not normal, this is not something that has ever happened to me, so this is a spiritual attack. I went to the church asking for prayer and the dreams receded after I asked many Christians for prayer.”
Mitchell is coming off of a third-round knockout of Kron Gracie this past December, a much-needed win after he suffered a brutal knockout of his own at the hands of Josh Emmett. He looks to hand Silva his first loss, with the Brazilian power-puncher having finished his first four UFC opponents.
Even with all of the drama surrounding their fight, Mitchell guarantees he’s properly prepared.
“I’m fully focused,” Mitchell said, later adding, “I’m going to personally whoop his ass.”
