“I honestly think [Adolf] Hitler was a good guy…” As shocking as it may sound, that’s exactly what Bryce Mitchell claimed on the debut episode of his ArkanSanity podcast. On top of that, he made some controversial comments about the Jewish community. Needless to say, his words had serious repercussions. The entire world stood against him, and that included Dana White. However, the UFC CEO didn’t think that it was reason enough to let Mitchell go just because of his speech. But little did he know that the story would take an unexpected turn. 

Mitchell’s next opponent? It’s Ilay Barzilay, one of the strong ones from Israel. However, this wouldn’t be a fight in the UFC. Instead, the duo are set to land against each other at Karate Combat 53 in Denver, on February 28, 2025. And it’s going to be a pit submission grappling bout. Well, following Mitchell’s comments about Hitler, things are certain to get nasty in Denver. But do you know what the Israeli fighter had to say about ‘Thug Nasty’s big speech on Hitler? Of course, he wasn’t pleased with any of it. 

Barzilay had commented on Mitchell’s IG post. He wrote, “[Bryce Mitchell]  you are brave with your opinions in front of the camera ha? disappointed to hear that from an athlete in your level because I had no idea you’re that dumb but josh probably destroyed that brain. Me and my Jewish friends will not be quiet about that if you really think like that I welcome you to keep that same energy next time you around me because I will come right to you. Enough with that stupid people around, they feel too comfortable…”

But it was Sean Strickland who decided to push things to greater heights. The former UFC middleweight champion came across the announcement for Mitchell vs. Barzilay when Home of Fight dropped an IG post regarding the same. Taking to the comments in order to hype up the game, Strickland wrote, “[German flag] vs [Israeli flag] lmao! Who yall got?!” No doubt, it’s going to be a war in Denver. 

After ‘Thug Nasty’ revealed his unpopular opinion about Hitler, the fighting community started to speculate if Dana White would relieve him from his UFC contract. But even though he was pretty upset with Mitchell’s words, he had to honor Mitchell’s practice of free speech. Now, all that the fighting world wondered was if Mitchell was regretful of his words. 

Bryce Mitchell shares an apology for his praise of Adolf Hitler

It didn’t take too long for the UFC featherweight contender to realize the error in his research. He was quite regretful about his words for the Jewish community. But when the netizens’ calls about Mitchell being a Nazi went overboard, ‘Thug Nasty’ had to come clean and apologize to the world. And that he did through another post on Instagram, while taking back his praise for Hitler. 

In the apology note, Mitchell wrote, “I’m sorry I sounded insensitive. I definitely was not trying to offend anybody, but I know I did. I know that a lot of people died in the Holocaust, and that’s a fact. Hitler did a lot of evil things, I think we can all agree on that. I’m definitely not a Nazi, and definitely do not condone any of the evil things Hitler did.”

While the featherweight mixed martial artist hoped to clear his name out of the controversy, the fighting community has begun to look forward to his grappling bout against Barzilay at Karate Combat 53. But with the Israeli star enraged because of Mitchell’s comments, things might get a bit nasty for ‘Thug Nasty’. But that’s something we need to savor on the last day of February 2025. 

What do you think of Strickland’s comments on the matchup? Who do you think would rise victorious at KC 53? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.