By Scott B
UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell may be unranked after two recent losses, but he remains a top contender—at least in the eyes of one watchdog group.
A Holocaust denier who rails against “greedy Jews” and claims Israel controls the U.S. government, the 31-year-old Mitchell recently parlayed that rhetoric into a Top 3 finish in StopAntisemitism’s “2025 Antisemite of the Year” poll. Nationalist podcaster Tucker Carlson took first place. A formal gala is not expected.
Mitchell has not commented on his near-win. But when StopAntisemitism named him a Top 10 finalist earlier this month, the one-time economics major mocked the process while admiring his own efficiency. “This is two years back-to-back, man. This is awesome,” he said in a video. “And what’s crazy about winning this year is I didn’t even try.”
He does, however, owe Carlson thanks. The right-wing commentator has interviewed Mitchell twice on Fox News, praised his authenticity, and even helped him meet his future wife, Erin. The couple later named their son “Tucker.”
Though he fell short of the annual crown, Mitchell did notch “Antisemite of the Week” honors in September. “A couple slurs wont get u this award. a couple of mean tweets wont do it,” the Arkansas native boasted on Instagram, noting that a high-level target must be willing to sacrifice everything: reputation, money, family, even safety.
No meaningful repercussions
Despite the headlines his rhetoric has generated—including attacks on gay and transgender people—Mitchell has faced no meaningful repercussions for his videos.
Earlier this year, when he praised Adolf Hitler as a “good guy” who “wanted to purify [Germany] by kicking the greedy Jews out,” for example, UFC president and CEO Dana White called the remarks “beyond disgusting” but said Mitchell was entitled to “free speech”—even though the UFC’s Athlete Conduct Policy explicitly bars “any statement which will reflect negatively upon or bring disrepute, contempt, scandal, ridicule, or disdain to the athlete or UFC.”
And although Mitchell has repeatedly hinted at impending martyrdom, the world has declined to oblige. “When are they gonna come kill me? Cuz, like, I’m still breathing,” he said earlier this month. Mitchell remains very much alive, un-assassinated and—most crucially—online.
Social-media reach is growing
For now, his platform continues to grow. The 2018 Ultimate Fighter alum boasts 668,000 followers on Instagram alone, more than double the average following of his five most recent opponents. Two of those opponents—Josh Emmett and Dan Ige—have sat as high as #2 and #4 in the featherweight rankings, well above Mitchell’s personal best of #9.
Mitchell doubles down on slurs
Meanwhile, Mitchell is doubling down on antisemitic messaging. He issued a half-hearted apology in February for his comments about Hitler and denying the Holocaust. But in a Christmas Eve message, he crowed about being vindicated—and ridiculed his purported imitators.
“I very vividly remember just a year ago the entire world calling me a racist, a bigot, an inbred imbecile, because I wanted to talk about the history of World War II. Now, what is every single podcaster on the planet talking about now, that I brought it up first?” he asked. “They’re all talking about World War II, they’re all talking about what’s going on today. And you know who’s running the world. It’s exactly who I said it was a year ago. Ain’t nothing changed, buddy. And I hate to say I told you so. Sometimes it sucks to be right. I honestly think my intelligence has become a curse.”
Mitchell’s ascent as an influencer has coincided with a rocky period in the Octagon. After losing two of three bouts at featherweight—including a devastating knockout to Josh Emmett and a submission loss to Jean Silva—Mitchell dropped down to bantamweight in July. He emerged victorious against Said Nurmagomedov, finally securing a win, if not a ranking.
Mitchell’s next Octagon appearance has not been announced. His next video almost certainly will be.
###
