Mikey Musumeci moves up to featherweight to face Bryce Mitchell at UFC BJJ 11

Mikey Musumeci will vacate the comfort of his natural weight class to headline UFC BJJ 11 against Bryce Mitchell on September 24, the promotion announced Saturday. The bout is contested at featherweight, meaning Musumeci’s bantamweight belt is not on the line — but it does make Mitchell the first active UFC fighter to share the mat with a UFC BJJ champion.

The matchup carries genuine intrigue on both sides. Musumeci, a four-time IBJJF world champion at black belt, has been untouchable under the UFC BJJ banner and arrived there after a dominant run in ONE Championship, where he won and defended the 135-pound title with four consecutive heel hooks across just 11 months. He enters this fight undefeated in the format.

Mitchell, known as “Thug Nasty”, brings credible grappling credentials of his own. Ten of his 19 MMA victories have come by submission, and he has been quietly building his ground game in competition outside the cage. Over the past nine months he has taken three grappling matches, most notably drawing with fellow UFC fighter Jean Silva in March. Before that, he went 1-1 under the EBI banner in September 2025, defeating JJ Bowers before tapping out to a heel hook from Landon Elmore later the same night.

His most recent submission finish in MMA came in June, when he caught Santiago Luna with an arm-triangle choke with just eight seconds remaining in the final round at the Meta APEX — a reminder that his finishing instincts remain sharp even if his pure grappling record is mixed.

The co-main event of UFC BJJ 11 adds further weight to the card, with Mason Fowler defending his light heavyweight belt against Nicky Rod.