Bryce Mitchell describes chemical burn injury ahead of UFC Vegas 118 fight with Luna

Bryce Mitchell arrived at UFC Vegas 118 media day on Wednesday with another unusual injury story to tell: laundry detergent residue left in his training shirt had caused chemical burns to his chest during a recent workout session.

Mitchell, who previously made headlines after accidentally injuring himself with a drill, explained that he only realised something was wrong when foam began seeping through his shirt mid-session. “I had some laundry detergent that got stuck in my shirt,” he told reporters. “I started doing a workout and that shirt and the laundry detergent got all in my skin and the suds were coming out of my shirt and I didn’t know what was happening, so I kept training.”

He and training partner TJ Brown initially laughed off the foaming, with Mitchell joking they thought it might be connected to his habit of drinking a gallon of milk. The mood changed quickly. “Then it started getting bubbly and foamy and I was like, ‘No, bro, that’s not milk. That’s soap.’” By the time he identified the cause, the damage was already done. “My nipples were already on fire, and it actually literally just burnt my nipples bad,” Mitchell said. “So make sure you be careful about what detergent you use because your nipples are sensitive to that type of stuff.”

Despite the incident, Mitchell suffered no serious harm and remains on track for his first fight of 2026. He faces Santiago Luna this Saturday at UFC Vegas 118 after original opponent Victor Henry pulled out with a torn knee. Luna accepted the bout on just nine days’ notice.

Mitchell spoke warmly about how Henry and his coach Josh Barnett handled the withdrawal. Barnett had previously appeared to call out Mitchell on social media over a contract dispute, but Mitchell said any tension has since dissolved. “He messaged me right when Victor got hurt,” Mitchell said of Barnett. “He said, ‘Hey, Victor can’t take the fight. His knee is just totally torn.’ That’s what you call a class act because he had no incentive to message me and say, ‘Hey, my guy’s hurt,’ but he wanted to tell me as quick as possible, be as transparent as possible.”

Mitchell enters the fight looking to break a pattern of alternating wins and losses across his last seven bouts.