Pit Submission Series 12 is set to take place on February 28th, 2025 and the promotion has just announced a crazy matchup between UFC veteran Bryce Mitchell and Israeli MMA fighter Ilay Barzilay. The two men will be facing each other in a catchweight match at under 180lbs, which is significantly heavier than both men compete in their MMA careers. Mitchell has spent almost his entire career fighting at featherweight, while Barzilay usually competes at lightweight instead. This is the only match announced for the event so far, but if past events are anything to go by then there will likely be another one or two to be added to the lineup.
Mitchell has been known as a fantastic grappler throughout his career and he won almost all of his regional MMA fights by submission before appearing on The Ultimate Fighter in 2018. Although Mitchell didn’t win the show, he has continued to impress in his UFC career and currently holds a 17-2 professional record with 9 submission wins. He has a wrestling background that has served him well but it’s his elite Jiu-Jitsu that has really pushed him to the highest level. Not only does he have one of a tiny number of twister finishes in UFC history, but most recently he finished BJJ legend Kron Gracie at UFC 310.
His opponent, Ilay Barzilay, hasn’t reached the same level in MMA just yet but he’s got off to a fantastic start. He only started his career in 2019 and after going 5-1 as an amateur fighter, he made the jump to professional in 2022. He’s been practically flawless on the regional circuit since then and has amassed a perfect 6-0 professional record, with his last four fights all coming for LFA. He’s a top prospect who has shown solid grappling in his fights, but he still has yet to get a submission win in a professional fight and hasn’t faced the same level of opponent that Mitchell has.
Karate Combat announced the news that Bryce Mitchell will face Ilay Barzilay at Pit Submission Series 12 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
