Disgraced UFC star Bryce Mitchell claims 'Israel did 9/11' while reacting to Charlie Kirk death

Disgraced UFC fighter Bryce Mitchell has blamed Israel for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - in a bizarre rant which began as a reaction to Charlie Kirk's death.

Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of Trump, was shot and killed while hosting a Q&A event with students at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. 

The 31-year-old's murder has sent shockwaves across the globe after horrifying footage of it went viral online, with the suspect still at large despite an FBI manhunt.

Mitchell, meanwhile, is one of the UFC's most controversial stars - having previously faced backlash for praising Adolf Hitler - and continued that streak as he weighed in on Kirk's death. 

While the mixed martial arts star took time to praise Kirk as an 'extremely brave Christian', he also faced backlash for spinning his rant into an attack on Israel. 

Taking to social media, he said in a video: 'I'm so upset about Charlie Kirk's passing. I can't really go to sleep right now. I keep thinking of his wife and kids. 

'That's what gets me cause I know he wasn't in any pain. And I also know that Charlie Kirk was a extremely brave Christian and he inspired me to make this post. 

'He was the opposite of a coward. He said everything he believed and made it be known to people because he loved our country, our country America. 

'That's going to s*** every single day. And let me tell you something about 9/11. Ain't no Muslims did 9/11. 9/11 was done by Israel. Israel hates Jesus Christ. 

'You did 9/11 and blamed it on the Muslims. But guess what? I love Muslims. You're never gonna fool me. Muslims love Jesus Christ. 

'The only people that hate Jesus are the synagogue of Satan; Israel. And if I didn't say that, I'd be a coward and people like Charlie Kirk would die for nothing. 

'And no I don't agree with everything Charlie said but I loved Charlie because he loved Jesus and he said what he wanted to say. 

'He believed in freedom of speech and he died for it - and I'll do the same thing'.

Mitchell - who has an 18-3 professional MMA record - is no stranger to controversy. 

Back in February, Mitchell called Hitler 'a good guy' who wanted to remove 'greedy Jews' from Germany. He also claimed that the Holocaust 'ain't real'. 

Mitchell's initial comments were quickly denounced by UFC chief Dana White, who called the fighter 'stupid and ignorant.'

The 30-year-old then backtracked on his comments shortly after. 

'I'm sorry I sounded insensitive,' he said. 'I definitely was not trying to offend anybody, but I know I did. I know that a lot of people died in the Holocaust, and that's a fact. 

'Hitler did a lot of evil things, I think we can all agree on that. I'm definitely not a Nazi, and definitely do not condone any of the evil things Hitler did.'

However, just one month after that incident, Mitchell was making headlines again. 

Prior to his fight against Jean Silva at UFC 314 on April 12, Mitchell claimed he'd been plagued by 'demonic dreams' since a press conference earlier that month. 

Mitchell called on Christian warriors to pray for him ahead of the showdown with Silva so he can finally get some peaceful sleep.

'Good morning, y'all,' Mitchell said in a clip posted to Instagram. 

'I need all my Christian warriors to pray for me that I will have peaceful sleep. Every single night since the day before the press conference, I've had demonic dreams.

'Legions of demons are attacking me every single time I sleep, and not one time have I seen any peaceful sleep since that day.

'These demons surround me, and they try to fight me and provoke me to anger, and then the dream will switch, and they'll send beautiful women, and they're trying to get me to lust, to cheat on my wife.

'Satan's using two of my weaknesses to try to expose the evil in my own heart, which is anger and lust. However, where I am weak, the Lord is strong.'

He went on to lose the fight against Silva after being submitted in the second round.