Bryce Mitchell has added Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the list of things he takes issue with, targeting a technique used across competitive grappling and calling out the coaches who teach it. On his ArkanSanity podcast, the UFC bantamweight said that BJJ has been, in his words, “gayed out,” and pointed the finger at instructors who open their curriculum with butt scooting.
Bryce Mitchell Calls Butt Scooting “Gay”
“To some extent, it’s becoming gayed out. Some of these professors are teaching gayness. Sit on your butt and scoot at your opponent. It’s called butt scooting. If they’re teaching this butt scooting, they’re probably gay,” Mitchell said on the podcast.
He did draw a line between having the skill and choosing to use it as a primary weapon. The US-born athlete says he knows how to butt scoot, but only does it when he is hurt and trying to survive, not as a game plan. “I’m only going to butt scoot if I get knocked loopy. If I’m butt scooting, I’m hurting,” he said, adding: “I’m swinging for my life if I’m butt scooting, it’s because I’m trying to get up.”
For context, butt scooting is a technique where a fighter sits on the mat and moves toward their opponent by pushing off the ground with their hands and feet. It is common in pure BJJ competition, particularly when one athlete pulls guard and their opponent refuses to engage. The move lets the seated fighter close distance, set up sweeps, and enter their guard game without needing to secure a takedown. In MMA, it is rarely seen because a standing opponent can simply back away, and the position leaves the head exposed to strikes.
The technique has attracted criticism from the wider grappling community for years, and Mitchell is not alone in finding it awkward to watch. Even ADCC silver medalist Craig Jones, who regularly pulls guard himself, once acknowledged on The MMA Hour that grapplers “look very gay” in what they do, though Jones went on to defend sitting down against a strong wrestler as a sound tactical decision.
Mitchell has built his own MMA career on grappling, so the criticism is coming from someone with genuine time on the mat. His most recent win, a third-round arm-triangle choke over Santiago Luna at UFC Fight Night on June 6, 2026, was a grappling-dominant performance where he controlled the fight from top position for the majority of three rounds.
The butt scooting comments are the latest in a pattern of sharp opinions from Mitchell. He made international headlines in January 2025 after calling Adolf Hitler “a good guy” on the debut episode of the same ArkanSanity podcast. Dana White called those remarks “beyond disgusting,” though the UFC took no disciplinary action. Mitchell issued a partial apology in February 2025, acknowledging that Hitler “did a lot of evil things” and saying he did not mean to sound insensitive. He has also, at various points, said the Earth is flat, accused the UFC of staging a White House event as political propaganda, and publicly changed his opinion on Donald Trump more than once.
The reaction to the butt scooting comments has been more amused than angry, with much of the grappling community treating it as par for the course from a fighter who has made controversy a regular part of his public presence.
