Bryce Mitchell reacts to heated faceoff with Jean Silva ahead of UFC 314: ‘I see the younger man I used to be’

Bryce Mitchell and Jean Silva have stolen the show in the build to UFC 314, and their faceoff at Thursday’s press conference was no different.

Mitchell and Silva compete on the main card of Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Miami. Both fighters have had headline-worthy comments about their opponents for the past several weeks in anticipation of the matchup, and things got intense when the rivals went face-to-face, and nose-to-nose.

“I absolutely loved the press conference, I feel like the Holy Spirit was speaking through me,” Mitchell said on the UFC 314 Weigh-In Show. “With my eyes, I conveyed the message that I’m ready to die and I’m ready to kill, and I said everything that I needed to in that faceoff with my eyes alone.”

Towards the end of their staredown, Silva feinted towards Mitchell as if he was trying to make “Thug Nasty” flinch. It didn’t work, and in Mitchell’s mind, it would never work.

“He couldn’t possibly make me react,” Mitchell said. “There’s absolutely nothing that man can do to instill any fear into me. I have the Holy Spirit and the Lord, and fear is not an option.

“I’m fighting him with the full force of the Lord inside of my heart — the true Lord.”

Mitchell is coming off of a knockout win over Kron Gracie at UFC 310 this past December, while improved to 4-0 in the octagon with a bonus-earning first-round finish of Melsik Baghdasaryan at UFC Seattle in February — which led to Silva calling for the fight with Mitchell.

After looking in Silva’s eyes on Thursday, Mitchell says he saw a bit of himself; at least, the past version.

“I see overconfidence,” Mitchell explained. “I see the younger man that I used to be.”