Matt Mitrione News

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

Bellator heavyweight contender Matt Mitrione has been forced out of his upcoming fight against Tyrell Fortune this Friday at Bellator 255. Mitrione vs. Fortune was set to be the main card opener of Friday’s Bellator 255 show, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Unfortunately, Mitrione is now off the card as he pulled out from the Bellator 255 event for undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com’s Nolan King was the first to report that Mitrione fell off the card. With Mitrione now off the card, Bellator is targeting a rematch between Fortune and Jack May on short notice. They fought to a No Contest last year after low blows ended the fight.

Cole Shelton - August 3, 2020

Tim Johnson believes he has a clear path to victory against Matt Mitrione. Johnson will be making his fourth appearance in Bellator to battle the always dangerous Mitrione in the co-main event of Bellator 243 on Friday. Although this is a big fight for Johnson, he didn’t get much notice for it.

Adam Martin - July 24, 2020

Bellator heavyweight contender Matt Mitrione is set to make his return to the cage when he takes on Timothy Johnson at Bellator 243. Bellator 243 takes place on Friday, August 7, and is headlined by a rematch between top lightweight contenders Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson. The heavyweight matchup featuring Mitrione vs. Johnson is set to be the co-main event for the card. The event takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Adam D Martin - August 25, 2019

Bellator heavyweight Matt Mitrione suffered a brutal second-round knockout loss to Sergei Kharitonov in the main event of Saturday night’s Bellator 225 card. But before the knockout happened, Mitrione was having trouble with his mouthpiece as it fell out of his mouth multiple times. The big blow came when Mitrione’s mouthpiece was knocked out by a Kharitonov punch early in the second round. He was clearly mentally shook by it and let his guard down, which allowed Kharitonov to land a vicious uppercut and then a knee which knocked Mitrione down. Kharitonov then finished Mitrione off with ground and pound before referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight.

Chris Taylor - February 16, 2019

Heavyweight knockout artists Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov squared off in the headliner of last night’s Bellator 215 event in Uncasville, Connecticut. Unfortunately for fight fans, the bout lasted just fifteen seconds and that was not due to a spectacular finish.

Chris Taylor - February 15, 2019

Heavyweight knockout artists Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov collided in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 215 event in Uncasville, Connecticut. Matt Mitrione (13-6 MMA) entered tonight’s contest looking to rebound, this after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader at Bellator 207.

Chris Taylor - February 15, 2019

A heavyweight bout between Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov headlined tonight’s Bellator 215 event in Uncasville, Connecticut. Matt Mitrione (13-6 MMA) was last seen in action at Bellator 207, where he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader in the semi-finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2019

Tomorrow night, Bellator MMA will return to our screens with Bellator 215 — the first of two cards from the promotion this weekend. This card will be headlined by a fan friendly heavyweight showdown between UFC veteran Matt Mitrione and PRIDE veteran Sergei Kharitonov.

Drake Riggs - March 12, 2018

The fight may be over, but the war of words appears to be far from it. As the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix continues on, it does so without Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson as he was defeated by Matt Mitrione at Bellator 194 in their rematch of a 2012 UFC bout. But the result didn’t come without some controversy.

Drake Riggs - February 19, 2018

“We knew that if I got put in the crucifix, I was going to do this one move. Which I did. So if you go into the video and watch the video that’s on the internet or on YouTube, if you go into a minute and fifty four seconds left in the third round, you’re going to see me do a move that I do where I bring my left heel across his right calf, I squeeze my knees together, and if I bridged or twist my hips hard enough it actually becomes a sweep and I end up on top and Roy [Nelson] loses his position. Well when I reached my leg across I didn’t squeez my knees hard enough. But it was enough for Roy to kind of feel he was going to lose his balance if I did it again.

Justin Golightly - February 16, 2018

Tonight, former UFC fighter will step into the Bellator cage and fight a former UFC opponent in Roy Nelson. It’s the second bout in an exciting year-long world grand prix that will end up crowning the new Bellator heavyweight champion. The winner of the fight will have to get through potential opponents like King Mo, Fedor Emelianenko, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir and current Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader. Still, after such a grueling gauntlet of battles, Mitrione is humble enough to admit that even if he wins, he’s still a step below current UFC heavyweight king Stipe Miocic. “No, I do not [think winning the Bellator world grand prix makes me the top heavyweight]. Stipe [Miocic] is the No. 1 guy in the world. I don’t think anybody can argue that at all. I think it would be really dope to have the chance to compete against him. If the Ali Act ever got passed, I think that would be really dope and I think it would be great for the fans. Then I find out, ‘Are you really that good or not?’”

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

Why are MMA tournaments awesome? #Bellator194 headliner and grand-prix participant @roynelsonmma explains. Full story: https://t.co/sk0ip6v0GN pic.twitter.com/WKmJWvo7fb — MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) February 15, 2018

Drake Riggs - February 13, 2018

This Friday, Bellator will be finding out who the second fighter to advance to the next round of their heavyweight Grand Prix will be. It will either be Matt Mitrione or Roy Nelson walking away to face either ‘King Mo’ Muhammad Lawal or current Bellator light heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader in the semi finals. This fight will be a rematch of for Mitrione and Nelson of their 2012 clash. Both men competed on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, but it wasn’t until the TUF 16 finale that they would finally meet after Nelson coached against former interim heavyweight champion, Shane Carwin. Carwin would suffer an injury and be forced out of the bout which gave Mitrione the opportunity to fill in. Unfortunately for Mitrione, things wouldn’t go his way as Nelson would defeat him by first-round TKO.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2017

Bellator MMA’s upcoming heavyweight Grand Prix is one of the most talked about events in MMA right now. This tournament, which seeks to fill Bellator’s vacant heavyweight throne by crowing a new champion, kicks off this January 20 when former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson battles three-time UFC title challenger and infamous MMA mouthpiece Chael Sonnen.

Justin Golightly - November 29, 2017

A couple of days ago on The MMA Hour, Matt Mitrione talked about steroid abusers and rampant performance enhancing drug use in MMA. He went so far as to saw that fighters caught on PEDs should be charged with attempted murder. Shane Carwin got wind of this and had a lot to say about the former UFC fighter’s comments. He’s been looking for a way into the Bellator heavyweight grand prix ever since it was announced and he was probably trying on his 5XL gloves directly after he wrote these scathing comments. “Meathead [Matt Mitrione] brought up an interesting topic about fighter safety. When you are on the receiving end of beatings I can see the concern. My concern is bigger. Is he just dumb or did he take too many blows to the head? I would be worried about the trauma you have sustained and not go searching for the ass beating of your life. Here I am, call your bosses at Bellator MMA. I will knock the silly out of you and my name out of your mouth. If you want to have a serious talk about PED use we can. Yet you left the organization or got cut and signed your name to a tournament full of people who have TUE’s [Therapeutic Use Exemptions] and positive test.”

Justin Golightly - November 28, 2017

Sometime next year, Matt Mitrione and Roy Nelson are going to throw down again in a rematch from 2012. This time though, it won’t take place in the UFC, it will take place in Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix. Hopefully, the cage will be as large as possible because Mitrione is definitely not a fan of a small cage. He still holds a grudge against former UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who he accuses of lying to him about the size of the cage in his first fight with Nelson, even claiming he kicked him because of it. “One hundred percent, [Joe Silva lied about the cage]. Because they know I won’t take a fight in that small cage. That’s one of the reasons why, I would always tell them, ‘what cage is it in?’, ‘we don’t know what it is yet.’ How can you tell me that’s something you don’t know, when I’m the most mobile heavyweight, and I’m actively saying I don’t want to fight in the small cage? ‘We don’t know what it is until we figure out the venue. We just know the date.’ That’s some bullsh-t man. That’s the reason why I kicked him — if you go back and watch the film, I kicked Joe Silva in the stomach right after the [Roy Nelson] fight. I literally threw a bodykick and kicked him in the stomach. He’s like ‘Matt I had gall bladder surgery,’ you shouldn’t have lied to me then.” — Matt Mitrione on The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - October 5, 2017

Back in June, in the co-main event of the Bellator NYC pay-per-view, Bellator heavyweight star Matt Mitrione stepped onto the canvas with MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. The fight was absolutely while it lasted. About a minute into the first round, Fedor and Mitrione both threw, both landed, and both hit the deck. In an instant, it all seemed to come down to who would be able to regain their composure and crank up the offense first. In the end, that man was Mitrione, who stormed his legendary foe with punches en route to a first-round knockout win.

Tom Taylor - October 5, 2017

Over the last few years, Bellator’s heavyweight division has really come together, as the promotion has bolstered its roster with names like Cheick Kongo, Bobby Lashley, Matt Mitrione, Fedor Emelianenko, Sergey Kharitonov, Javy Ayala, Roy Nelson, and most recently, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. That said, the organization has not had a heavyweight champion since it stripped the undefeated Vitaly Minakov of the belt after a bevy of contract issues. Matt Mitrione is hoping that changes soon. The Bellator heavyweight star discussed Bellator’s empty heavyweight throne on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.