If everything had fallen the way it was supposed to, Bryce Mitchell would have been stepping in the cage in a little less than two weeks’ time. ‘Thug Nasty’ had been set to tangle with fellow rising featherweight star Movsar Evloev in the main event of UFC Vegas 64 at the Apex facility on November 5th. At least that was the plan right up until Evloev had to pulled from the bout due to injury.
Shortly after Evloev’s withdrawal, Ilia Topuria stepped up to the plate to offer himself as a replacement. There was just one problem, it seems that despite Topuria’s offer (and thirst traps), he couldn’t actually make the featherweight limit.