UFC 296 recently lost Giga Chikadze after he pulled out of the fight against Josh Emmett due to injury. But 10th-ranked featherweight fighter Bryce Mitchell stepped in to replace ‘Ninja’ with less than two weeks left for the fight. However, the fans shared some divisive reactions to this matchup in a post on Twitter (X).
After Giga Chikadze pulled out due to an undisclosed injury, he made an offer to Josh Emmett. He spoke to his doctors, who confirmed that ‘Ninja’ will be able to return to fight at the end of January next year. Hence, Chikadze asked Emmett if he would like to fight him then. However, the UFC had other plans and did not want to get the featherweight bout off the card by adding Bryce Mitchell as a replacement. Let’s take a look at that front.
Josh Emmett to fight Bryce Mitchell at UFC 296
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It seems like we will have a featherweight bout on the main card at UFC 296. Bryce Mitchell, who had just one loss in his entire UFC career so far, has stepped in to replace Giga Chikadze to fight Emmett with less than two to go for the final pay-per-view of the year. He has had a tremendous run in the UFC so far and now has a chance to inch closer to title contention if he can win on December 16th.
Josh Emmett will take on Bryce Mitchell at #UFC296 on December 16th. pic.twitter.com/geq0IFUXg8
— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) December 7, 2023
Surprisingly, both Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell have lost to Ilia Topuria. While ‘Thug Nasty’ lost to the Georgian and Spanish fighter at UFC 282, ‘CC0’ lost to Topuria in his last fight at UFC Jacksonville. Emmett suffered a loss in his last fight, Mitchell has all the momentum since he will be coming into UFC 296 with a win under his belt. Now let’s see what the fans have to say.
Fans shared conflicting opinions regarding Mitchell’s clash with Emmett
The fans on social media shared some divisive reactions to the news of Bryce Mitchell stepping up to fight Josh Emmett at UFC 296. One fan mentioned that ‘Thug Nasty’ will need more than God’s help to win this fight, referring to the religious nature of the 29-year-old fighter.
Bryce gon need more than the lord for this one
— PleakWizard (@PleakWizard08) December 7, 2023
Meanwhile, another fan believes that Josh Emmett will secure a first-round knockout.
Round 1 KO Emmett
— Shane.vanilla (@Ufcfan2868) December 7, 2023
The fans continued to counter-predict each other, with a fan claiming that Mitchell would win by submission.
Bryce by sub
— kex (@xvkexz) December 7, 2023
Nonetheless, some fans were excited about the featherweight clash.
I'm excited about this.
— Dane M. White (@Dwhite1904) December 7, 2023
Another user on Twitter (X) predicted a grim fate for ‘Thug Nasty’.
Mitchell is going to get flatlined lol
— Devin (@DevyJWevy) December 7, 2023
One fan even claimed that the people who are bidding for Josh Emmett to win don’t have knowledge about the fight game.
Big time Emmett guy but If you think that Emmett wins this matchup you don’t know the fight game
— Big Rico (@bigrico6969) December 7, 2023
What a banger replacement
— CD (@dsouzac1984) December 7, 2023
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However, certain sections of people believed that Bryce Mitchell was the perfect replacement for Giga Chikadze.
Fans are pumped up for the UFC’s final PPV of the year. And as far as the resumes of Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell go, they are guaranteed to put on a great show. The card now looks stacked with some of the best matchups of the year as we wait for December 16th to find out who walks out of the T-Mobile Arena victorious.
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What are your predictions for UFC 296? Drop your comments below.
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