Bryce Mitchell picked up instant fame with a combination of rare submission skills and some of the zaniest post-fight interviews that’s ever happened. 

While people may have penciled Mitchell in as one of the jiu jitsu stars of the division, his UFC 249 opponent Charles Rosa isn’t buying it. In fact, Rosa believes that should Mitchell think about grappling with him, he’ll be in for a long (or even short) night. 

“I mean, I hope he takes to the ground. It'll be a blessing for me. It'll be a bad night for him,” Rosa said. “But either way, I mean, I'm ready wherever the fight goes.”

That confidence for Rosa comes from the level of competition he’s faced. Two of his last four opponents now sit in the top 10 of the featherweight division. On the flip side, only one of Mitchell’s UFC opponents is still with the company. Rosa points out that there are levels to this game and he doesn’t think Mitchell has seen the top yet. 

“He hasn't been exposed to the highest level jiu jitsu and grappling in the world yet. I mean, he's fought some tough guys, I gotta give him that,” he said. “He's a tough kid - undefeated 12-0, and coming off submission in the year - but I'm not really sure that he's fought anybody like me, or even close. He hasn’t fought a real dog yet and that’s what he’s going in against.”

Coming off of a performance of the night bonus against noted grappler Manny Bermudez, Rosa feels he’s made his statement regarding where he fits in those levels - and it’s at the very top. 

“I mean, I made it clear that I'm the best jiu jitsu guy in the featherweight division, and I mean, if anybody wants to argue that, they can test me,” Rosa declared. “Nobody wants to go to the ground with me. If you watch any of my fights - I got three UFC fight of the night bonuses, six UFC fights - there’s never been a fight that somebody has initiated taking the fight to the ground with me.”

While the UFC 249 card is set with a date and no concrete location, Rosa feels confident that this fight will in fact go down on May 9th. If it does, we’ll get a chance to see whether or not Mitchell will be one of the first to want to take him to the mat right away.