UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell was scheduled to face Israeli fighter Ilay Barzilay but had to withdraw from the bout. However, Barzilay remains determined to face Mitchell, as he feels the fight is personal.
Mitchell recently came under fire after making controversial comments about war criminal Adolf Hitler. In his podcast, Mitchell expressed support for Hitler’s ideology and what he stood for. His comments were appalling to many, receiving significant backlash from fighters and UFC CEO Dana White, who called Mitchell’s remarks “beyond disgusting.” Mitchell has since publicly apologized for his statements and recanted his words, but it seems not everyone is satisfied with his apology.
23-year-old Ilay Barzilay, who hails from Israel, was unmoved by the apology and jumped at the opportunity to face Mitchell. Barzilay took to Instagram to express his displeasure with Mitchell’s comments and planned to make an example of him. Karate Combat took this opportunity to set up a fight between the two, but the plans were disrupted when Mitchell booked a fight with Jean Silva at UFC 314. Barzilay believes Mitchell is avoiding a fight with him but intends to wait for another opportunity to face the Arkansas native.
“I had one week’s notice for this fight,” Barzilay told MMA Fighting. “I worked my ass off during that week, improved my grappling so much because I didn’t want to disappoint. I wanted to beat him and I was going there to beat him and submit him. I put a lot of effort into it. Now everything is mixed up. I’m disappointed, angry—everything is mixed up.”
“He said some horrific things,” Barzilay said. “I’ll tell you something—my grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, and my grandfather lost all of his family during the Holocaust. What he said, it’s personal. I lost family because of the Holocaust. My grandmother is still alive, and she’s still telling me stories about it. He said a lot of things, and I did take it personally.”
Although Barzilay admits he may not get a chance to teach Mitchell a lesson himself, he’s hopeful that his training partner and friend, Jean Silva, will make the “Nazi supporter” pay for his derogatory comments.
“You know, for Jean, it’s an easy way to the top 15,” Barzilay said. “Jean is a future champion. I haven’t trained with anyone at Jean’s level in this weight class. He’s a different level. He will beat Bryce very easily.”
“Maybe the UFC didn’t like him doing the grappling match—that’s an option,” Barzilay added. “I do believe he was worried about the grappling match. Maybe he was worried about me breaking the rules and starting to punch him.”
“Just let me fight the guy,” Barzilay said. “It doesn’t matter. Karate Combat, UFC, let’s do it in a gym. I just want to test myself against him. I want to fight this guy.”
“This was personal, 100 percent,” Barzilay continued. “If he’s talking about the Holocaust, he’s talking about my family. Because my family died in the Holocaust. They were murdered during the Holocaust. My grandmother survived the Holocaust. It’s personal for me. For me, it sounds good. UFC debut against Bryce Mitchell? That sounds very good.”
