UFC 296: Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell Prediction, Odds, and Picks (Dec 16)
- Bryce Mitchell is coming to fight Josh Emmett at UFC 296 on a two-week notice.
- Josh Emmett was preparing for a fight with a prominent kickboxer, now he’s facing a grappling expert.
Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell is one of the most interesting UFC 296 preliminaries particularly for the fact that the betting odds are favoring the fighter who stepped in on a two-week notice. Let’s see if bookies are right to think so!
How to Watch
- When: Saturday, December 16, 2023, at 9:00 p.m. ET
- Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
- How to Watch: PPV
Odds
| Fighter | Odds |
|---|---|
| Josh Emmett | |
| Bryce Mitchell |
Fight Preview
Josh Emmett was originally meant to fight Giga Chikadze at UFC 296, but the Georgian fighter withdrew at the start of December. As a result, Emmett got himself a new opponent – Bryce Mitchell.
Is this good news for Emmett? Not really, no. Even though he was the underdog against Chikadze as well, his odds moved against him even more when Mitchell was announced as his new opponent.
The probable reason is that he was preparing for a different kind of an opponent. Chikadze is all about kickboxing while Mitchell is an expert grappler.
Further, the fact that Mitchell accepted the fight on a two-week notice doesn’t mean he’s out of shape. On the contrary, “Thug Nasty” fought Dan Ige in September.
Josh Emmett vs. Bryce Mitchell Prediction
Two months ago, Mitchell defeated Ige by unanimous decision in a fight in which he landed five takedowns and attempted one submission. He did all that against a guy who’s a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and who’s got a brown belt in Judo.
READ ALSO: UFC 296: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval Prediction, Odds, and Picks (Dec 16)
Mitchell’s next opponent has a purple belt in BJJ, which suggests he should be able to ragdoll him. However, Emmett does have a big advantage, which is striking. He lands over 4 significant strikes a minute, but we doubt his strikes and kicks are powerful enough to knock Mitchell out.
Instead, we think that even though Emmett is almost certainly going to give him war, Mitchell will be the one to raise his hand in the end.
Free Pick:
