Mitrione: Learning on the fly

Almost fight time. Whereas some other fighters are given time to build and develop in the minor leagues before reaching the UFC, I have spent my entire career under the bright lights of the world's biggest MMA organization. That's a scary proposition for some people, but it is also something that has presented me with many opportunities to grow and improve in this sport.

To a large extent I am learning on the fly, and I require a little more time in between fights to learn my trade. I'm not one of these guys that you'll see fighting once a month. I need that training and preparation time, simply because I have to improve my game and keep it up to scratch. One false move and I could get my ass handed to me and be given my marching orders. I am still learning right now and I'm still figuring out whether I'm even any good at this thing or not. I'm hoping Cheick Kongo will give me a better idea on Saturday night at UFC 137.

With improvements on my mind, I am really excited about the ground element in this fight. I have spent so much time on my wrestling and my ground game in recent years, and Saturday night could be a coming out party for me. I don't know yet - you can never be sure - but I'm certainly open to the idea of taking this thing to the ground if I can't get the better of him on his feet. My ground game has really developed at a crazy rate in the last six months and I'm now ready to showcase what I've learnt.

If there comes a point where the fight naturally hits the ground, or Cheick starts kicking my ass in the striking department, I'll have no qualms whatsoever about showing the world what I've learnt these last six months. I will try to go for submissions and I will look to break something.

I try not to think too much about what a win over Cheick this coming Saturday does for me or my career. As far an I'm concerned, the only thing a win over Cheick does is hand me another cheque. If I beat Cheick, I get a check. If I beat Cheick by knockout or submission, I may even get two cheques for beating Cheick. That's all I'm thinking about right now. I'll leave the rankings and the pecking order for other people to waste their time talking about.

None of that means anything to me right now. Whatever happens in my career will happen because my results in the Octagon caused a reaction. If I am good enough to beat a string of contenders and work my way to the number two in the world spot then, yes, I probably deserve a title shot. However, that is an extremely long way off right now, and it will be even further away if Kongo smashes me to pieces on Saturday.

I don't plan on that happening, of course. In fact, I have spent the last few weeks visualizing numerous ways in which I will smash Kongo to pieces. I actually visualise all the time. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing, at some point my fight and my opponent will enter my mind's eye. I can be riding in the car, getting ready in the gym or just sitting on the toilet - it doesn't matter. The fight is always on my damn mind. In all honesty, I have probably beaten Cheick Kongo 35 different ways already. All I need to do now is just go out on Saturday night and physically do it.

Before I leave, I'll give you an example of one way in which I have visualised beating Cheick Kongo. Picture the scene. We are in a scramble, Cheick catches me in a triangle from his back and I then pick him up to slam him, in the same way Pat Barry did a few months ago. However, instead of slamming him forward, I decide to slam him backwards and Cheick's head hits the canvas before anything else. He knocks himself out and I win the fight. Yeah, I'll take that...

Hit me up on Twitter @mattmitrione.

Matt Mitrione takes on Cheick Kongo at UFC 137 on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Las Vegas. He is blogging exclusively for sportsnet.ca on a weekly basis ahead of his fight.

UFC 137 will be shown live on pay-per-view at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET. Watch live preliminary fights on Sportsnet starting at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.