Bryce Mitchell, a UFC featherweight known for his grappling, faced a tense moment overseas. On July 16, 2025, he shared on Instagram a story about nearly fighting six men in an Abu Dhabi gym changing room after walking in naked, unaware of local customs.
Mitchell explained:
“This is my first time in Abu Dhabi, so I’m kind of learning the rules still. So let me tell you something: In Abu Dhabi, a changing room is not a changing room. You do not change in a changing room. I don’t know where you change, but you certainly don’t do it in a changing room. So what happened is after training, I was at a gym. I took a shower and I go from the shower to the changing room, which is right next to the showers, and I go out of the shower, butt naked to the changing room, then change into my clothes.”
Incident Details and Mitchell’s Career
Mitchell continued:
“There were six Muslim men in that changing room and they had them full white gowns on, head-to-toe. You already know what I’m talking about. Apparently, me being naked greatly offended them, to the point where I thought that they might actually start a fight with me, and they started walking at me. They started yelling at me, and I could tell that they were mad because I was naked, because they wasn’t mad when I walked in. They was only mad when I got out of the shower, and I was like, ‘Okay, well, they must be mad that I’m naked.’ And I didn’t know this until it was too late.”
He described the rising tension, saying:
“So I got these six dudes about to fight me, six on one. And I’m trying to tell them, ‘Hey, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ You know, they got all their white gowns on, and I start thinking, ‘Well, my Lord, I think, all of my years of gi training are about to pay off, because I’m about to be grabbing these dudes by their gowns and just start fighting.’ Because that’s the only thing I can do is just pull that towel over their head and start swinging. That’s what was going through my head.”
Mitchell, with a 17-3 UFC record, is known for a rare twister submission against Matt Sayles in 2019, earning Performance of the Night, per. He’s fought names like Andre Fili and beat Dan Ige by decision in September 2023. His last fight was a knockout win over Kron Gracie at UFC 310 on December 7, 2024. He lost to Josh Emmett by knockout in December 2023 and Ilia Topuria by submission in December 2022.
Resolution and Next Steps
Mitchell added:
“So I’m not feeling very confident at this moment. And I got these six dudes yelling at me, walking at me, telling me, ‘Leave, leave, leave.’ And then thank the Lord, T.J. Brown comes in. He says, ‘Hey, Bryce, you all right, brother?’ And that was the happiest I’ve ever been to see T.J. Brown in my life. I thought, we can sure as hell take three apiece. I don’t know if I can take six of them, but I know I can take three of them. I proceeded to tell them, ‘I’m sorry’ over and over, and then they finally let me get dressed. And brother, let me tell you, I’ve never put on my blue jeans and my boots quicker in my life than I did that day. And then I got the heck out of that locker room, and I learned my lesson.” via
T.J. Brown’s arrival defused the situation. Mitchell apologized repeatedly, dressed quickly, and left. The incident taught him about Abu Dhabi’s cultural norms. Now, he’s focused on his upcoming fight with Pico, aiming to rebound from his last loss and climb the featherweight ranks.
