By Neil Davidson
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Heavyweight Matt Mitrione may rank as of the quirkiest cast members in 11 seasons of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
But flaky TV personality aside, Mitrione has heavy hands that were showcased in a highlight-reel knockout of Marcus Jones in a battle of former NFL linemen on the December finale of Season 10 of the reality TV show.
That power has resulted in a marquee matchup with Kimbo Slice on the main card of UFC 113 on May 8 at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
Mitrione, whose nickname is Meathead, was portrayed as a head case/loose cannon on “The Ultimate Fighter.” While he lost to James McSweeney in the quarter-finals, Mitrione has proved to be the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, by emerging from the show with one of its highest profiles.
The married father of two — with a third on the way — says his depiction on “The Ultimate Fighter” was merely show-business.
“The way I was portrayed is how Spike TV wanted it to come out,” he said in an interview.
Mitrione reckons he still talks to 40 per cent of the cast at least twice a month.
“And if I was that much of an asshole, I wouldn’t be in contact with them that much or they wouldn’t me texting me or jiving back and forth,” he said.
“With that being said, obviously it wasn’t a very good depiction of me. But what it did was it allowed me to fight the most loved guy (Jones) on the main (Season 10 finale) card, knock him out. Now I get a fight with Kimbo on pay-per-view. So by being an asshole on that show or being depicted as an asshole, it has really allowed my career to blossom at a pretty good rate.”
Mitrione (1-0) may point a finger at the show’s producers but he clearly knew what he was doing during filming.
“If you go on that television show and you’re forgotten about, that’s your fault,” he said.
Mitrione, 31, was often at the centre of things, causing coach Rashad Evans to pull out his hair.
Mitrione says he eventually sat down with Evans at UFC 109 and explained what had been going on during the filming.
“Rashad didn’t know all the stunts and all the crap I was up to,” Mitrione said. “So for him to react the way he did, I can’t blame him whatsoever.”
Mitrione was always a character, and sometimes he was a one-man soap opera.
There was a shoulder injury that was questioned in some quarters. He was labelled a snitch for telling the other team what his side had planned. There were fireworks in training.
After beating up Scott Junk, he complained of headaches and nausea — medical problems that allowed TUF producers to play up the possibility of Slice returning to action despite losing to eventual show winner Roy (Big Country) Nelson early on.
Mitrione, whose win over Junk drove future opponent Jones to distraction, eventually recovered and lost via submission to McSweeney.
At times, during the headaches phase, Mitrione came across like one of the Three Stooges.
He may have been a loon, but more likely he was crazy as a fox.
Mitrione soon realized that if he played up his post-Junk concussion, he would get more visits to the doctor where he was allowed to call his wife — unlike his other castmates who were denied access to the outside world.
The former New York Giant and Minnesota Viking is clearly no dummy.
He is CEO of a sports supplements company called EDEN (Engineered & Designed Nutrition) that he started up after leaving the NFL in 2005. The company is small with plenty of family involved. But he says it’s doing well.
On the set of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Mitrione said he had no game plan when he arrived, but then made an agreement with Junk that they would share information and help each other out.
Mitrione maintains he lived up to his end of the bargain by telling Junk’s rival team about the proposed matchups from his side. He was promptly vilified.
“So from that point on, I realized I was there by myself and for myself,” Mitrione said. “I didn’t care how anybody else felt about me. I didn’t really think about the viewing public, at least I didn’t think that far ahead. But I was obsessed with beating Scott Junk’s ass. … So that’s what I did.”
Mitrione said he threw everything into his punches for the first three minutes.
“That’s why I ruined his face, it looked like a rotten pumpkin by the time I was done with it.”
Junk went down five times before the first round was midway through.
Mitrione says he has always felt he can “stand up and bang with anybody.”
“I don’t want to get punched in the face but I’ve got a pretty damn good chin and I know that if I can touch you and turn your chin a little bit, there’s a good chance that I’ll put you to sleep.”
There is no bad blood with Slice, however.
“If I went down to Miami, I’d call him up and ask if he was having a barbecue or ask him if he had any (food) recommendations for me. He’s a cool, cool, good dude.
“It just so happens that we’ve got to fight each other. We’re going to get in there, we’re going to throw leather and the first person to go to sleep does not get the bonus cheque. … And as soon as that fight’s over, we’re going to buy each other a beer or a mixed drink or something like that.”
The 36-year-old Slice (4-1), whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, is a former Internet street-fighting sensation who is trying to establish solid MMA credentials. To that end, the six-foot-two 215-pounder is training with American Top Team in Florida.
At 6-3 and 260 pounds, Mitrione is no shrimp. But last December, he found himself looking up at the six-foot-six, 262-pound Jones.
“From playing in the NFL and always being around huge bodies, I’m not intimidated by anybody’s size whatever,” he said. “I knew Marcus had a glass chin, I asked to fight Marcus . . . because he has a giant head and it would be fun to punch him.”
“I wasn’t scared of him. My ground game is significantly better than what people think it is or give me credit for or what I showed on the show.”
Mitrione left his Indianapolis base to prepare for the Slice fight in Milwaukee training under Duke Roufus with the likes of Pat Barry, (Big) Ben Rothwell, Alan (The Talent) Belcher, Eric (Red) Schafer and Anthony (Showtime) Pettis.
“Fighting’s fun, man. It’s a great activity, it’s a great sport,” Mitrione said with enthusiasm. “It’s a lot of fun to get in there and test yourself out against another human being that wants to punch your lights out, or fold you into a pretzel and take something home with him.”
