Thug Nasty” Bryce Mitchell made a candid admission on the Sean Mike Kelly Podcast recently, revealing that financial pressure is what drives him to compete, not titles, rankings, or unfinished business in the sport.
The Arkansas native, who holds a record of 19-3 in MMA, has made no secret over the years that finances steer his career decisions more than ambition does. Back in 2023, he admitted that he fought Ilia Topuria at UFC 282 with the flu, in part because he had only “a couple thousand bucks” in his account when the UFC told him the next available slot was February. He took the fight anyway, lost, and had to rebuild. That cycle, empty bank, call Dana, take a fight, appears to still be the operating model.
Bryce Mitchell Says He’s Broke and Calls Dana White When the Money Runs Out
“I have no money in my bank right now. That’s why I take fights, I take a fight when I have no money. If I had money in my bank, I probably wouldn’t fight. When I run out of money, I call the boss [Dana] and say, ‘Hey, I really need a fight’,” Mitchell said. “Like right now, if something happened, I would have to sell some cows to live. I’m all in. I put all my money into the farm. People think that money is going to save you, no, the cow is going to save you.”
This is a common issue among UFC fighters. UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland called the UFC’s pay structure “predatory” in February 2026, he added “athlete pay versus what [the UFC] is making, there is no argument there. It’s not fair.”
An antitrust lawsuit, settled in 2025, alleged the UFC had historically kept fighter compensation at 13% to 20% of revenue. Entry-level contracts still sit at roughly $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win, meaning a prelim fighter who loses might take home less than $5,000 after taxes, management fees, and gym costs.
Mitchell’s financial picture is not purely the result of a low base pay, though. He runs a 16-acre farm in Arkansas, raising cattle, hatching chicks, and by his own account has stopped buying food from stores entirely. He has invested his UFC earnings into that land rather than liquid savings, which is why the “sell some cows” line is not a metaphor.
On the competitive side, Mitchell has been fighting with urgency since a knockout losses to Josh Emmett at UFC 296 in December 2023. He bounced back with a third-round TKO over Kron Gracie at UFC 310 in December 2024, then dropped to Jean Silva via ninja choke in the second round at UFC 314 in April 2025, a loss he described by saying “I had nothing left to give.” He then moved down to bantamweight, stopped Said Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision in July 2025, and most recently submitted Santiago Luna via arm-triangle choke at the 4:52 mark of the third round at UFC Fight Night 278 on June 6, 2026, moving to 2-0 at 135 pounds.
Bryce Mitchel is best known for his controversial takes. In December 2024 he told reporters he would “take a bullet and die” for Donald Trump. By October 2025, he had posted a video to his 600,000 Instagram followers calling Trump a “corrupted leader” who had tricked him on the Epstein files, foreign aid, and beef prices, and citing Revelation 13:3 to suggest Trump could be the beast referenced in the Bible. By April 2026, he was publicly accusing the UFC of staging its White House event to “make people worship Donald Trump.”
Mitchell also believes the Earth is flat, space isn’t real, has blamed Israel for 9/11, and suggested Brazilian fighter Jean Silva was “possessed by demons” before their fight. Whether the statements are sincere convictions or a calculated way to stay visible between fights is a question fans and media have debated for years. Either way, they keep him in the conversation.
