Josh Emmett proved he was one of the pound-for-pound biggest punchers in MMA at UFC 296.
The heavy-handed featherweight veteran fought Bryce Mitchell during the final UFC pay-per-view show of 2023.
‘Thug Nasty’ is one of the UFC’s most controversial stars, who is known for going on wacky, and often offensive, rants.
They’ve made him wildly unpopular with a large section of MMA fans. So, naturally, there were a lot of people celebrating when Josh Emmett brutally knocked him out cold with one shot.
Watch Josh Emmett brutally KO Bryce Mitchell
Mitchell’s decision to fight Emmett on two weeks’ notice badly backfired at UFC 296.
The submission specialist applied pressure from the very first bell, but he was made to pay for his aggression when Emmett detonated an atomic bomb on his chin.
Mitchell ran into a right hand that left him unconscious on the UFC Octagon floor.
Fans inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas went wild after Emmett scored one of the scariest knockouts in MMA history, and so did UFC commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier.
However, their hysterical reaction quickly turned into concern when they noticed Mitchell was twitching on the floor after the first KO loss of his career – he was previously submitted by Ilia Topuria a year prior.
The UFC 296 commentators winced as they watched Mitchell try and fail to get back to his feet.
Thankfully, he eventually regained his senses and walked backstage on understandably unsteady legs.
What’s next for Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell?
Emmett will return to the Octagon for the first time since his fight with Mitchell on Saturday night.
The 40-year-old is set to square off against 15-0-1 star Lerone Murphy in the UFC Vegas 105 main event.
One week later, Mitchell will travel to Miami for a fight with Jean Silva at UFC 314, which recently took a major hit as a scrap between fan favorite knockout artists Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates was cancelled.
A big slam win over Kron Gracie allowed Mitchell to bounce back from his famous loss to Emmett.
Now he’ll look to re-establish himself as a true contender by taking out a hot UFC prospect.
