Matt Mitrione

Matthew Steven Mitrione (born July 15, 1978) is an American retired mixed martial artist and former American football player, who competed for both the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and most recently for Bellator MMA.

Prior to embarking on an MMA career, Mitrione played college football at Purdue University, and he turned pro and played in the National Football League (NFL) with the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings.

He was a featured fighter on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.

Mitrione was born in Bloomington, Illinois and raised in Springfield, where he attended Sacred Heart-Griffin High School for first four years, where he competed in football, swimming and diving, and track and field.

He graduated from Springfield Southeast High School.

In football, he received Honorable Mention USA Today All-American & All-State honors in his senior year playing defensive line.

He also trained in Shotokan Karate as a child to help deal with his hyperactivity.

Mitrione competed in Toughman Contests while he was still in high school, and finished second in his initial Toughman Contest in his hometown of Springfield.

He attended Purdue University on a football scholarship and started 35 consecutive games for the Boilermakers at defensive tackle, but broke his right foot during winter conditioning practice in his senior year.

Mitrione went undrafted during the 2002 NFL Draft, but was offered a contract by the New York Giants.

After again injuring his foot in a 2003 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Mitrione had seven surgeries to his foot including one that extended his Achilles tendon, and was in crutches for 16 months.

Mitrione was released by the Giants in 2004 and then had brief stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings, before being released by the Vikings six weeks into the 2005 season and a week before his first child was born.

Mitrione soon turned to mixed martial arts after Jayson Werth, a professional baseball player for the Washington Nationals, and close friend of Mitrione, invited Mitrione to fight in his inaugural promotion.

Mitrione then relocated with his family to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he began training with fighters Chris Lytle and Jake O'Brien.

Mitrione appeared on the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Later in an interview, Mitrione revealed that he joined the show only to promote his sports nutrition company.

On the show, he was given the unofficial nickname "Meathead" by coach Rashad Evans.

After being picked second to last by Evans, Mitrione fought and defeated Scott Junk via majority decision (19–19, 20–18, and 20–18), moving him on to the quarter-finals.

Following Mitrione's fight with Junk, Mitrione complained about migraines and dizziness, causing many of the cast members to feel that Mitrione may bow out of the competition to give Kimbo Slice a second opportunity.

Mitrione did fight and was eliminated by teammate James McSweeney in the quarterfinals, losing via guillotine choke.

Mitrione made his professional MMA debut on December 5, 2009 at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale defeating Marcus Jones via KO early in the second round.

Mitrione then faced another fellow Ultimate Fighter alumnus Kimbo Slice at UFC 113 in Montreal.

Mitrone chopped Slice down with leg kicks and eventually defeated Slice via technical knockout in the second round, taking his professional record to 2–0.

Mitrione faced Joey Beltran on September 25, 2010, at UFC 119.

He won the fight via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, and 29–28) and also won the Fight of the Night award.

Mitrione defeated Tim Hague on January 22, 2011, at UFC Fight Night 23 via TKO in the first round.

It was mentioned during the post-fight interview that Mitrione had broken his left hand and later confirmed that he had injured the second metacarpal in his left hand.

Mitrione fought Christian Morecraft on June 26, 2011, at UFC on Versus 4.

Mitrione dominated the first round with his standup scoring two knockdowns.

Mitrione ended the fight via KO at 4:28 of round 2

Mitrione suffered his first professional MMA loss to Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–28, and 29–28) on October 29, 2011, at UFC 137.

Mitrione was unable to mount any consistent offense against Kongo on the feet as Kongo used his jab to keep Mitrione at bay, and in the third round Kongo secured a takedown and controlled Mitrione through the end of the fight.

Mitrione was expected to face Rob Broughton on August 4, 2012, at UFC on FOX 4.

However, the bout was scrapped after Broughton pulled out for an undisclosed personal matter.

Mitrione/Broughton was briefly linked to UFC on FX 5 but was eventually scrapped altogether.

Mitrione was expected to face Phil De Fries on December 29, 2012, at UFC 155.

But Mitrione was pulled out of the bout to step in for injured Shane Carwin against Roy Nelson at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale on December 15, 2012.

He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

Mitrione vs. De Fries eventually took place on April 6, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 9.

Mitrione won the fight via knockout just 19 seconds into the first round.