Bryce Mitchell used his strong grappling to get the better of Andre Fili tonighht at UFC Fight Night 181 on his way to a decision victory.
Round One:
Left hook for Fili to start. Side kick to the body from Mitchell. He misses with a hook kick. Mitchell in on a slick takedown, but Fili is straight back up. However, Mitchell never gives up on the attempt and lands it at the second attempt.
Mitchell secures Fili’s legs. Fili doing a good job of making life difficult for Mitchell though and he has to reset, but keeps him down. Mitchell in half guard, but Fili almost reverses and they go back up. Mitchell relentless though as he instantly lands another takedown.
Mitchell in Fili’s guard this time. Punch for him. He passes to side control. Knee on belly and tries to get to full mount, but unable to get that before Fili drives up to his feet. Again he brings him straight back down again though and moments later is into full mount.
Elbow strike for Mitchell. Fili tries to escape, but Mitchell stays in the mount. He looks to work some ground and pound, but Fili solid defensively again as he gets him back to half guard. However, a few seconds later he works back into full mount.
Fili does a good job of reversing the position and ends up on top. They scramble and go back upright. Mitchell able to land a nice punch and lands yet another takedown.
Mitchell upright, but then goes into Fili’s guard and settles there as the round ends.
Round Two:
Solid left lands for Mitchell. He ducks in and lands another left. jab for Fili. Head kick attempt from Mitchell and then drives into a takedown attempt. Fili stays upright this time though.
Jab for Mitchell. Hook for Mitchell and Fili looking to counter. Fili with a jab. Nice counter jab for Mitchell. He lands it again.
Jumping knee from Fili lands and Mitchell backs up momentarily. Fili landing straight punches. Mitchell steps in and eats a punch, then immediately transitions to a takedown attempt. However, this time Fili stuffs it and goes back to striking.
Hard straight punch lands for Fili. Head kick attempt from Mitchell but gets caught up on Fili’s shoulder.
Mitchell goes in for the takedown again , but for now Fili is defending. Nice trip though secures the takedown for Mitchell who was starting to get outgunned on the feet.
Mitchell in half guard and perhaps taking a bit of a breather, then moves to side control. He moves to the same position on the other side as Fili has his feet up on the cage.
Mitchell starts to work elbows, but then Fili drives off the cage and gets back to his feet. Strikes exchanged and a punch from Fili knocks Mitchell’s mouthpiece out. Fili bundles Mitchell to the mat as the round is drawing to a close.
Round Three:
Jab for Mitchell. Fili swinging hard, but missing. Leg kick for Fili. Right hand for Mitchell. Overhand attempt from Mitchell misses, but it gets him into range to work for a takedown and he lands it in the center of the Octagon.
Mitchell in Fili’s guard here. He sneaks a right hand through to the head. Light ground and pund from Mitchell, but has to be careful because Fili is looking for any opportunity to get up. Speaking of which, Fili does manage to quickly get to his feet, but is quickly brought back down again.
Fili does well to secure a reversal now. He lands a punch and then they stand up again. Mitchell throws a punch upstairs and then ducks into a takedown and secures it.
Half the round remaining. Right hooks land for Mitchell without much steam behind them. A couple of elbows land now. Mitchell into half-guard.
Fili trying to wriggle free, but has to settle for putting Mitchell back to full guard. Mitchell working to the body and head with punches.
Right hook for Mitchell. He’s mostly happy to just maintain position. He postures up and looks to land a few punches, then as Fili tries to escape he drives back in to keep him down. The round closes and as Mitchell stands he has a cut above his eyebrow, but looks to be heading to a win on the scorecards here.
Round One:
Fili did well to work to scramble out from under Mitchell’s dominant top game multiple times tonight and did look the more effective of the two on the feet, but ‘Thug Nasty’ still managed to work plenty of takedowns and had good spells of control as well as moments of success in the striking department to earn a unanimous decision victory (29-28, 30-27 x2).
