BRYCE MITCHELL returns to the bright lights of the octagon this weekend.
But it's the American's political and scientific beliefs – not his fighting skills – that are under the spotlight ahead of his .
The featherweight contender fights for the first time since outrageously praising Nazi party leader in an anti-semitic troped-filled rant on his podcast.
Mitchell claimed that his “own research” had steered him away from the “public education indoctrination” and made him realise that Hitler was a “good guy”.
The 30-year-old even denied the .
Mitchell's comments received condemnation from all corners of the MMA world, with UFC bigwig branding them “dumb” and ignorant”.
Mitchell denied being a Nazi-sympathiser in a grovelling apology but has since insisted: “Everybody’s entitled to their own opinions.
“There should be no censorship. If somebody thinks I’m a total dumbass, come on. Call me out for it.
“If you don’t agree with my views on and politics, call me out on it. But don’t censor me.
“No man controls me or controls what I say and my research on history is up to me.
“And no man determines what my thoughts and my opinions are and how I raise my son and what is taught in my household.
“And for me, in my household, we will serve the Lord.”;
Mitchell's arrival at Nazi conspiracy propaganda wasn't surprising in the slightest.
Over the years, he's publicly descended further and further down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.
It all started with his relatively innocent and laughable belief that the is flat and that , which he believes is a “demonic” entity, faked the moon landing.
The God-fearing Mitchell doubled down on his flat Earth stance as recently as February, insisting if you “take a helicopter, hover it 20,000 feet for 24 hours, and come back down on the same spot.”
“I think no one will disagree once I explain it,” Mitchell said in an Instagram video. “Keep doing your own research.
“Because there's no proof the Earth rotates. That's a lie from the devil.”
Most fight fans thought Mitchell completed his descent into conspiracy theorist madness in June 2022 when he claimed the US government were involved in the tragic Uvalde shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 people.
“They're letting some of them happen,” he said. “And they're also, like the Las Vegas shooting – I believe that was a government collusion.
“The was too suspicious. Too many things didn't line up.”
You don't need common sense to know that American government officials aren't colluding to allow tragic shootings to occur.
But then again, common sense is something that clearly escapes Mitchell.
I mean, after all, this is a man who almost took off his testicles with a power drill.
In 2018, he wrote on Instagram: “So I was going to train today but I ripped my nutsack in half. I'm about to get stitched up.
“I was holding a board over my head with a drill in my pants. I was sizing up the board and the drill went off and tangled my nuts up in it.
“I dropped the board and reversed the drill and untangled my nutsack but they was ripped in half. I'm serious too lol.
“I obviously can't post a picture, but when my nuts are sealed back up I'm going to come and train again. I think a high kick would rip them haha.”
It's likely Mitchell, like most conspiracy theorists, finds himself trawling the depths of the internet at ridiculous o'clock to conduct truth-revealing “research”.
But as of late, his sleepless nights have been the result of his face-off with Fighting Nerds standout Silva.
“Legions of demons are attacking me every single time I sleep,” Mitchell said on Instagram last month. “And not one time have I seen any peaceful sleep since that day.
“These demons surround me and they try to fight me and provoke me to anger. And then the dream will switch.
“And they’ll send beautiful women and they’re trying to get me to lust. To cheat on my wife.
“Satan’s using two of my weaknesses to try and expose the evil in my own heart, which is anger and lust.”;
Late-night visits from demons are should be the least of Mitchell's immediate worries.
Avoiding becoming the latest victim of Silva's ferocious punches early on Sunday morning should top of his list.
But thereafter, his primary concern should be escaping the depths of the all-consuming conspiracy theory world.
