MMA: B/R Exclusive Interview with UFC's Matt Mitrione

We all remember Matt Mitrione as "Meathead" on TUF 10. Matt was kind enough to take a moment to talk about his upcoming fight against Kimbo Slice, what went on during TUF 10 and what his plans are in the UFC.

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Hi Matt. Thanks for taking the time to interview.

 

Matt Mitrione: Sure. No problem.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Who would you say that you would like to fight the most in the current UFC heavyweight division?

 

Matt Mitrione: Kimbo Slice. He's the biggest name in MMA. He has a bigger name than Brock Lesnar. I just want to get out there and put my hands on him and put him to sleep. That's my job.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Are you planning to go out and brawl with Kimbo?

 

Matt Mitrione: I think I'm going to try and find some way to run as much as I can and pull the whiskers out of his chin as much as I can. I want to yank out a couple of whiskers with some crazy glue or something, and every time I punch him I want to yank them out.

 

Some guy from our gym sent us a picture of Kimbo and somehow he erased the beard and left the mustache, and it looks hysterical. He looks so comical.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): [Laughs] How much did you learn by working with the coaches on TUF 10?

 

Matt Mitrione: I learned a lot, and I should have. I had only been training [in MMA] for eight months before I even went on the show. I was so new to it. I was so underqualified to be on there, but I was athletic.

 

You kinda go with what role you play and then you go out there and compete. Coach G [Greg Jackson] and Coach Whitman…it was really good. They helped me with my punches. They taught me there's a difference between punching hard and having them land hard or land heavy.

 

So I learned that. That's one of the reasons I gassed with [Scott] Junk is…I punch hard, but I threw every single punch trying to crush his face, but you can't really do that for very long until you gas.

 

I had only had one fight before that, and that was an amateur fight, and I got the point to where I didn't beat his ass in a minute, and I didn't finish him which is my fault. I learned a lot. I learned a lot about pacing, and I learned that believe it or not, the human body can get this tired.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Having professional experience in football and MMA, which would you say is tougher?

 

Matt Mitrione: If you're talking about cardio-wise and the actual fight itself, I would say that MMA is harder in terms of cardio and training. But as far as on your body physically, MMA's a grind.

But when it comes down to football, you literally kick the shit out of each other every single day in practice and then every single game.

 

I would say that physically, emotionally, all together, that football is more difficult. But I think that the mental prep for a fight is such a different angle, and the cardio prep is horrible, horrible to play football. Believe it or not, for football I'm a cardio guy.

 

I was the Clay Guida of football. They're totally different [sports], but I would say football is harder on your body, but the cardio regimen [in MMA] is light years beyond what football is.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): In the final, edited version of TUF 10, do you think they portrayed you accurately?

 

Matt Mitrione: You know…from what they saw and what they didn't know, yeah. I was dickin' around a lot. I was always doing something, but I had reasons for it, though I couldn't let those reasons out at the time.

I get along with a lot of people from that cast. I still have monthly contact with 35-40% of that cast. We talk about training, stuff they're doing. Zak [Jensen], Darrill [Schoonover], Wes Sims, I talk to Roy [Nelson] once in a while, Brendan Schaub, Wagner.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Do you still keep in contact with Marcus [Jones]?

 

Matt Mitrione: Na, I don't, but I have no issues with him. We're adults. Stuff happens, I just happened to win that fight and that's it. It's no big deal.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Was Marcus tougher than you expected, or were you prepared for what he threw at you?

 

Matt Mitrione: I expected exactly what he gave me. I have a longer reach than he does, but he's insanely strong...insanely strong. So I trained with a guy who had his strength, 250-plus-pound guys that just had unnecessary strength. So I expected that.

 

And to be honest with you, I expected his ground game to be better than what it was.

 

So when I found that it was as elementary as it came (keylock, guillotine, armbar and a triangle) you know, the four staples of Jiu Jitsu. Once I got out of his guillotine or armbar, I knew I had him.

 

I've had some pretty good wrestling training lately, so I'm lucky.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Do you have a time frame that you give yourself to fight for the UFC heavyweight title?

 

Matt Mitrione: If I'm in the UFC, if I'm competing…fighting, I want that piece of gold. I don't do anything to be No. 2, I do it to win. Off the air, I'm doing everything I can to get that piece of gold around my waist because I want to win.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Would you ever look to fight Roy Nelson in the UFC?

 

Matt Mitrione: Sure. If Roy has that piece of gold, I'd love to take it from him. You know, the other day I was watching Roy vs. Frank Mir in their grappling match. Roy took the victory. 

 

Roy made the comment the other day that Kimbo's ground game is better than mine…that he gives Kimbo the edge on that.

And you know, I think that's comical, because if you're basing me off of that show…basing opinions on that show, I would say Roy's ground game sucked too, because in practice he sandbagged all the time and did just enough to win.

 

I didn't display [my ground game] on the show at all, but I just panicked. I hope everyone thinks that my ground game sucks as badly as they can. When I get submission of the night, I'll walk away with the money.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Would you care to make a prediction for Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's match coming up?

 

Matt Mitrione: Sure, I'll make a prediction man. You know, everybody thinks that Rashad and I didn't get along…that we had all kinds of issues. Rashad and I are cool. Now granted there was some tension there, I think with anybody…with competitors…in situations where I was being a dick and he didn't understand why I was being a dick…it happens.

 

I think as a coach, he treated me great. He was a really good coach considering the fact that I had so many things going on. That was my fault. I think I had a chance to win that show raw ability-wise, but he was a really good coach even though he had no idea what was going on [with me].

 

I saw Rashad at UFC 109, and he came up to me with his wife and we're cool. If the old Rashad comes out, with a lot of head movement and being an excellent wrestler, I think "Rampage" could be in a lot of trouble. If he comes out and kinda keeps his head in a couple of different places and not go crazy, I think "Rampage" could have a really good day.

 

They're both tough. It's going to be really difficult for those two to not fight with emotion to not get drained early. The person who fights most like a professional versus fighting with emotion will win that fight.

 

Brandon Hinchman (Bleacher Report): Thanks for your time, Matt, and good luck in your upcoming match.

 

Matt Mitrione: No Problem. Thank you.