Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione: Who is the Better Mixed Martial Artist?

UFC 113 has Kimbo Slice, TUF 10 contestant and famed Internet brawler turned MMA fighter, facing Matt Mitrione, a TUF 10 contestant and former NFL lineman, who is 1-0 in the Octagon.

Since fighting on the Internet and in the EliteXC, Slice has gone from being a hyped sensation to falling from grace to earning viewers’ respect in the UFC. The EliteXC went down, but Slice has seemed to stay afloat.

Mitrione was a brute force on TUF 10, though he didn’t make it to the finals. Nonetheless, he was still added on the fight card of TUF championship, and faced Marcus Jones, defeating him by knockout, and solidifying his place in the UFC heavyweight division.

So the natural question is, in comparing the two fighters, who is the better mixed martial artist?

Standing

As far as standing goes, both men evidently have heavy hands. Slice seems ready to stand and trade with anyone, and Mitrione demonstrated heavy hands in TUF 10, and against Jones.

However, even though Slice primarily fought as a brawler with no kicks, clinch or ground phase involved, he certainly has more experience than Mitrione, who had only trained in MMA for eight months before joining TUF 10 cast.

But considering Mitrione's experience level, he performed well against Jones after he was taken down, and held in-side control. Jones's strongest area was the ground, and though Jones himself didn't have a lot of experience at 4-1-0 going into the match, Mitrione did well by getting back to his feet.

Clinch

Slice offensively used the clinch against Houston Alexander to take the fight to the ground. He seemed calm, and although he planned to brawl, Slice utilized the opportunity, which speaks highly for how much he has learned. Although he didn't choose to stay in the clinch for long, Slice used it effectively.

In the clinch, Mitrione used a lot of high knees in his fight against Jones. Throughout TUF 10 and in his fight with Jones, he was mainly trying to escape the clinch the whole time in order to keep things standing.

It's evident that Mitrione didn't feel as comfortable in the clinch as he did standing, although this added to Mitrione's tactical advantage over Jones, as Jones was constantly looking to clinch. It seems as though we haven't seen Mitrione in the clinch enough to know what behavior is tactical foresight, and what might be error by means of inexperience.

Slice seemed to incidentally find himself in the clinch, but he took advantage of it to win against Alexander by decision. However, Mitrione consistently and strategically sought to get out of Jones's clinch.

Ground

When Slice fought James Thompson in the EliteXC, he did everything he could to stay off the ground. However, after Slice was sat on by Roy "Big Country" Nelson, and eliminated from TUF 10, he decided to work a lot on his ground game.

In his UFC debut, Slice showed a lot of growth by taking down Alexander, nearly submitting him. Slice showed that he's a quick learner, and this should add to his credibility as a mixed martial artist.

However, when rating Mitrione's ground game, we must take his demonstration against Jones into consideration. Mitrione took a lot of punishment in round one, but he effectively turned every inferior position on the ground into a scramble, and he came out standing, only to knock Jones out in the beginning of the second round.

Between the two, Slice is now evidently more of the aggressor while Mitrione is more defensive. How this will work into Mitrione claiming he wants the fight to go to the ground is still up in the air.

Cardio

Slice's cardio hasn't really been tested, other than when he fought James Thompson in the Elite XC and won by... a busted cauliflower ear . He was fatigued, but he continued to consistently deliver strikes.

Mitrione recently mentioned that he has really been pushing his cardio. He referenced the TUF 10 fight with Scott Junk as being something in the past that he has grown above. Granted, he looked better against Jones, it only went two rounds.

As a result, Mitrione's fight against Junk should be taken into consideration. Both men were completely exhausted by round two, and since UFC fights can go three rounds, Mitrione may need to prove his growth in the area of cardio.

Conclusion

If both men do make it to the third round, it will be an interesting display of who has trained better. Although both men are known for their heavy hands, this fight has the potential to go the full three rounds.

Despite any personal opinions surrounding Slice’s viability in the UFC, one thing that must be taken into consideration, is that he put the skills he learned to use against Alexander. Will the ground phase prove to be the determining factor between Slice and Mitrione?

As for what exactly to expect from Slice, it's tough. He may actually think like a mixed martial artist, and strategically turn the fight in his favor by voluntarily taking Mitrione to the ground, which seemed to work against Alexander.

However, Mitrione claims he hopes that everyone—including Slice—doubts his ground game ; that way he can disappoint Slice and his fans. However, being that he has only acted defensively on the ground thus far, it will be interesting to see if Mitrione is as open to it as he claims come fight night.

In predicting how the actual fight will go down, one can expect a lot of hard punches. On the whole, Mitrione seems ready to brawl with a brawler. However, the first thing that is often on the mind of a mixed martial artist is how to take his opponent out of his skill area; not simply overpowering that skill area.

Mitrione was very effective against Jones in that he powered out of inferior positions, and made it back to the standing position. In this sense, Mitrione was very smart in approaching the fight with Jones, and despite what he says, on paper he will probably do the same against Slice.

Will Slice choose to sling with Mitrione or will he test his ground game? Will Mitrione follow through with his claims at having a sound ground game, or was that just a distraction meant for Slice?

More surprising than anything, though, is the complete lack of mystique that Slice holds. After coming back off of being eliminated on TUF 10, Slice has succeeded in being respected as a mixed martial artist.

As for who the better mixed martial artist is, at this point Slice takes it on paper due to his experience and utilization of a ground game against Alexander. However, paper rarely decides the victor of any match, and Mitrione proved to have just as heavy hands as Kimbo on TUF 10 and against Jones.

But if Slice decides to take the fight to the ground, will Mitrione be able to nullify Slice's ground game as he claims, or will the fight stay standing and deliver a knockout?

We will have our answer this weekend.