BryceMitchell believes mixed martial arts bouts should be more likestreet fights.
Mitchell has weighed in on the current ruleset amid recentdiscourse about banning sidekicks to the knee, also known asoblique kicks, in MMA. The Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight strongly opposesbanning oblique kicks, which he considers one of his bestweapons.
While oblique kicks can cause serious knee injuries, Mitchell notesthat MMA is a brutal sport. If a rule change is needed, “ThugNasty” believes stomps to the face of a grounded opponent should belegalized, like in the Pride era.
“They’re talking about taking away the oblique kick, which isreally, really stupid,” Mitchell said on Instagram. “It’s acompletely fair kick; anybody can do it. Yeah, you get your kneeshurt. But guess what? It’s a fight… Who cares if you get kicked inyour knee? It’s a fight. I think if they should be making one rulechange, it should be the addition of the stomp. There’s not a moreeffective move than the stomp; there never has been, there neverwill be… I would have a lot more finishes if I could stomp agrounded opponent on their face. That’s actually my best move. Soevery time you see me fight, I don’t even get to use my best move…They’re trying to take another one of my moves away—the knee kick.Man, y’all need to toughen up.”
Mitchell also suggests removing rounds and banning weight cuts.
“All the rules favor the boxers who are scared of takedowns andkicks,” Mitchell wrote in the caption of his Instagram post. “Thesenew proposed rule changes are bullsh*t. Let us fight, and if youwanna make changes, take rounds and weight cuts out so we canreally get down and see who’s best”
