Dan Ige had big moments, but Bryce Mitchell’s wrestling was too much in a back-and-forth win.

Mitchell (16-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) outworked Ige (17-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 228 featherweight co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. He rebounded from the first loss of his career with a unanimous decision with a pair of 29-28 scores and a 30-27.

Mitchell then retrieved his Bible, which he made a show of during his introduction by raising it above his head in the middle of the cage whlie he screamed “Freedom!” and asked Ige to stay with him to pray. Mitchell said he would donate $5,000 to the Hawaiian to help victims of the recent wildfires that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina on Maui. He blamed the fires on Satan.

Then Mitchell, whom viewers were reminded on the broadcast does not believe in gravity, went a different direction and said he thinks those same wildfires that killed nearly 100 people were manmade so non-native Hawaiians could steal the land from natives of the islands, a conspiracy theory that first gained traction through social media outlets. There has been non factual basis for the wildfires being anything other than a horrific natural disaster started by high winds from Hurricane Dora ensuring the flames from the fires spread quickly and devastatingly.

In the fight itself, about 90 seconds in, an already-bloodied Mitchell tried to get the fight to the canvas, but Ige stuffed the takedown attempt with a little work. But about a minute later, Mitchell went after it again and got it after a brief sprawl from Ige. Again, though, he was back up quickly and the energy Mitchell used to get the fight to the mat was mostly wasted.

But Mitchell stuck with his game plan, and with a minute left, Mitchell got a solid takedown and was able to keep the position for the first time. He jumped to full mount quickly and maintained it even while Ige tried to explode out at the end of the frame.

Quickly into the second, Ige came forward and landed a big right hand that briefly wobbled Mitchell. But Mitchell went back to his wrestling and pressed Ige to the fence. Ige was able to disengage a minute in, and the cut over his right eye from the first round started to look worse. After another left hand from Ige, referee Mark Smith stopped the fight to have the cageside doctor look at Mitchell’s cut.

With the official seal of approval, Mitchell chased another takedown, but it was Ige who wound up on top and got some offense in before Mitchell moved back to his feet. But with two minutes left, Mitchell got a crucial takedown and hopped to mount again. With 90 seconds left, he took Ige’s back and got his right arm around for a rear-naked choke attempt with plenty of time to work. He got his left arm in and tried to flatten out Ige, who had to roll to his back and fend off an arm-triangle choke with 30 seconds left.

In the third, with the fight potentially up in the air, Mitchell got Ige to the canvas and even though Ige was on top, Mitchell managed to take the back with a tight body triangle with four minutes to work. Halfway through, Mitchell perfectly worked back to mount, which actually led to Ige back to his feet. But Mitchell just overpowered him and made sure to leave no doubt in the third. A slam with 90 seconds left and a kimura attempt kept him in control a little longer, though Ige rallied late.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 228 results include:

• Bryce Mitchell def. Dan Ige via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Marina Rodriguez def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:42
• Bryan Battle def. A.J. Fletcher via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:32
• Charles Jourdain vs. Ricardo Ramos via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:12
• Miles Johns def. Dan Argueta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Miles Johns def. Dan Argueta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Tim Means def. Andre Fialho via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:15
• Cody Brundage def. Jacob Malkoun via disqualification (illegal strike) – Round 1, 4:15
• Mohammed Usman def. Jake Collier via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mizuki Inoue def. Hannah Goldy via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Montserrat Rendon def. Tamires Vidal via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.