NASHVILLE – Bryce Mitchell can’t put a number on how many times he’s been asked about his crotch over the past six months, but it’s a lot.

“People have been drilling me with that question,” Mitchell on Wednesday told MMA Junkie.

As you can tell, “The Ultimate Fighter 27” veteran still has a sense of humor about the power tool incident that tore his scrotum and delayed his octagon career. There are parts of the story that are amusing, like running into his ex-girlfriend’s sister who works at the hospital or getting stitched up (down there) by his buddy’s wife.

“And they keep them rooms cold,” Mitchell said. “So I ain’t ever going to hear the end of that (expletive).”

Mitchell could hear nurses laughing at him behind closed doors. He can’t really blame them for that, but it still didn’t feel great. The best and most obvious explanation Mitchell can offer is, he wasn’t thinking clearly. He liked to work fast when he did construction, and he hadn’t thought about what might happen if he stuck a drill in his pants.

“I deserve to be made fun of,” Mitchell said. “I really am that stupid. I didn’t have a tool belt. I put a drill in my pants. But I was in a rush.”

Mitchell paid for his mistake, and then some. Along with a “hefty” hospital bill he shouldered on his own, he endured a long and “disgusting” recovery that you have to hear him describe to understand. In return, Mitchell got a couple pairs of nice boxers from an underwear company that saw his story on social media – and a story to tell for the rest of his life.

Thankfully, everything still works down there – he’s double checked. Getting kicked in the groin? Yep, still hurts.

But there’s another part of the story that’s not so fun, the one he wishes more people thought about before they snickered and asked him about his accident.

“I think if people saw how close I was to dying, they probably wouldn’t ask me about it,” Mitchell said. “The truth of the matter is, your nuts get ripped off, you fall off a 20-foot ladder, you’re (expletive) dead. I don’t got no neighbors; I’m (expletive) dead. I should be dead. God or whatever was watching over me that day, because it could have been way worse.”

These days, Mitchell works a lot differently when he’s doing construction. He thinks about the worst possible thing that could happen to him in a particular scenario, and then he takes the proper safety precautions. He wears a tool belt and a drill holster. He works slower.



On Saturday, Mitchell will get back to his other job, taking his risks in a proper cage with punches and kicks flying at his head. In there, his safety precautions are his hands and his head movement, his footwork and his distance. He doesn’t have any problems assessing that risk.

A fight with Bobby Moffett on the prelims of UFC on ESPN+ 6 is something of a return to normalcy for the 24-year-old fighter from Sherwood, Ark. For the record, Mitchell is OK if you want to ask him about what happened. He made his choice that day and has to live with the fallout. It probably helped him build his name, even if it was at the expense of his ballsack.

“I think people are always going to talk (expletive) about it,” he said. “I guess I can’t blame them. Maybe some people will forget about it. Probably not, though.”

To hear more from Mitchell, watch our one-on-one interview in the video above.

For more on UFC on ESPN+ 6, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.