UFC veteran Bryce Mitchell will now be competing at EBI 25 on September 12th, 2025 and he’s going to have some seriously tough opposition in the lightweight bracket. There’s always plenty of talented grapplers competing in EBI events but this one in particular is one of the most stacked in recent memory. Even Mitchell himself has some serious grappling skills and he’s used them to win 9 of his professional MMA fights by submission. He’ll have to adapt to not being able to use any strikes on the ground here though, as it’s been quite a while since he last had a grappling match and he pulled out of the last one he was booked for earlier this year.
While Mitchell will be a tough opponent for anyone, he’s far from the favorite in this lineup. There’s a few men who stand out as the top contenders at the moment, but the bracket has still not been fully announced and there’s plenty of spaces left. Gianni Grippo and Ethan Crelinsten are two of the most experienced and successful competitors in the lineup, but they aren’t even the only ADCC veterans invited. Max Hanson is another big name who will be competing at EBI 25, and he does so after making his debut at the world’s most prestigious no gi grappling event at ADCC 2024.
Then 10th Planet are sending one of their most successful lightweights in Keith Krikorian and one of their longest-running EBI contenders in Ben Eddy. The other 6 men who have been confirmed so far might nit be as well-known as them, but there’s some big threats there too. Jordan Holy always has solid performances at EBI and Christos Papadelos is one of the best grapplers flying under the radar in the US right now. Randy Baker and Cristian Guzman are two more veterans entering the lineup, while Mauricio Rios is coming in off his UFC BJJ: Road to the Title appearance and Grayson Henley is a top prospect looking for his breakout moment.
EBI announced Bryce Mitchell and the other grapplers for the EBI 25 lineup in a recent post to their professional Instagram account:
