Matt Mitrione

Background

Mitrione was born in Bloomington, Illinois and raised in Springfield, where he attended Sacred Heart-Griffin High School for first four years, where he competed in football, swimming and diving, and track and field. He graduated from Springfield Southeast High School. In football, he received Honorable Mention USA Today All-American & All-State honors in his senior year playing defensive line. He also trained in Shotokan Karate as a child to help deal with his extreme hyperactivity.

Mitrione competed in Toughman Contests while he was still in high school, and finished second in his initial Toughman Contest in his hometown of Springfield. He attended Purdue University on a football scholarship and started 35 consecutive games for the Boilermakers at defensive tackle, but broke his right foot during winter conditioning a practice in his senior year. Mitrione went undrafted for the NFL, but was offered a contract with the New York Giants in 2002.

After again injuring his foot in a 2003 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Mitrione had seven surgeries to his foot including one that extended his Achilles tendon, and was in crutches for 16 months. Mitrione was released by the Giants in 2004 and then had brief stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings, before being released by the Vikings six weeks into the 2005 season and a week before his first child was born.

Mitrione soon turned to mixed martial arts after Jayson Werth, a professional baseball player for the Washington Nationals, and close friend of Mitrione, invited Mitrione to fight in his inaugural promotion. Mitrione then relocated with his family to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he began training with fighters Chris Lytle and Jake O'Brien.

The Ultimate Fighter

Mitrione appeared on the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. On the show, he was given the unofficial nickname "Meathead" by his coach Rashad Evans. After being picked second to last by Evans, Mitrione fought and defeated Scott Junk via majority decision (19–19, 20–18, 20–18), moving him on to the quarter finals.

Following Mitrione's fight with Junk, Mitrione complained about migraines and dizziness, causing many of the cast members to feel that Mitrione may bow out of the competition to give Kimbo Slice a second opportunity. Mitrione did fight and was eliminated by teammate James McSweeney in the quarterfinals, losing via guillotine choke.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Mitrione made his professional MMA debut at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale defeating Marcus Jones via KO early in the second round.

Mitrione then faced another fellow Ultimate Fighter alumnus Kimbo Slice at UFC 113 in Montreal. Mitrone chopped Slice down with leg kicks and eventually defeated Slice via TKO (punches) in the second round, taking his professional record to 2–0.

Mitrione faced Joey Beltran on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119. He won the fight via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) and also won the "Fight of the Night" award.

Mitrione defeated Tim Hague on January 22, 2011 at UFC Fight Night 23 via TKO in the first round. It was mentioned during the post-fight interview that Mitrione had broken his left hand and later confirmed that he had injured the second metacarpal in his left hand.

Mitrione fought Christian Morecraft on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4. Mitrione dominated the first round with his standup scoring two knockdowns. Mitrione ended the fight via KO at 4:28 of round 2.

Mitrione suffered his first professional MMA loss to Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–28, 29–28) on October 29, 2011 at UFC 137. Mitrione was unable to mount any consistent offense against Kongo on the feet as Kongo used his jab to keep Mitrione at bay, and in the third round Kongo secured a takedown and controlled Mitrione through the end of the fight.

Mitrione was expected to face Rob Broughton on August 4, 2012 at UFC on FOX 4. However, the bout was scrapped after Broughton pulled out for an undisclosed personal matter.

Mitrione/Broughton was briefly linked to UFC on FX 5 but was eventually scrapped altogether.

Mitrione was expected to face Phil De Fries on December 29, 2012 at UFC 155. But Mitrione was pulled out of the bout to step in for injured Shane Carwin against Roy Nelson at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale on December 15, 2012. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

Mitrione vs. De Fries eventually took place on April 6, 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV 9. Mitrione won the fight via knockout just 19 seconds into the first round.

On April 8, 2013 it was announced that Mitrione had his contract suspended by the UFC after making comments about male-to-female transgender fighter Fallon Fox during an interview on The MMA Hour. Mitrione called Fox a "lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak" who he hoped would never fight again, and referred to Fox by male pronouns. Mitrione also criticized the state of Florida for licensing Fox to fight. The suspension was lifted after two weeks when Mitrione's next fight against Brendan Schaub was announced.

Mitrione was expected to face Brendan Schaub on July 27, 2013 at UFC on Fox 8. However, in mid-July, Mitrione pulled out of the bout citing an injury and Schaub was pulled from the event as well. The bout eventually took place on September 21, 2013 at UFC 165. Schaub won the fight via first round submission, giving Mitrione the first submission loss of his professional MMA career.

Mitrione faced Shawn Jordan on March 1, 2014 at The Ultimate Fighter: China Finale. He won via knockout at 4:59 of the first round. The win also earned Mitrione his first Performance of the Night bonus award.

Mitrione was scheduled to face Stefan Struve on July 5, 2014 at UFC 175, but Struve collapsed in the locker room before the fight, leading to a cancellation.

Mitrione faced Derrick Lewis on September 5, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50. Mitrione quickly defeated Lewis via first-round knockout.

Mitrione faced Gabriel Gonzaga on December 13, 2014 at UFC on Fox 13. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. The win also earned Mitrione a Performance of the Night bonus award.

Mitrione faced Ben Rothwell on June 6, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 68. He lost the fight by submission in the first round.

Mitrione faced Travis Browne on January 17, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 81. He lost the fight via TKO in the third round, though the bout was mired in controversy, as Mitrione suffered two eye pokes from Browne throughout the fight. This was the last fight on Mitrione's contract and he opted to test the free agency market.

Bellator MMA

On March 14, 2016, Mitrione announced he had signed with Bellator MMA.

Mitrione made his promotional debut against Carl Seumanutafa at Bellator 157 on June 14, 2016. After being dropped by an overhand right by Seumanutafa, Mitrione recovered on the ground and eventually won the fight via knockout in the first round.

Embracing a quick return to the Bellator cage, Mitrione faced Oli Thompson three weeks later on July 16, 2016 at Bellator 158. He won the back-and-forth fight via TKO in the second round.

Mitrione was scheduled to take on Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator's February 18, 2017 show in San Jose, California. However hours before the fight Mitrione was forced out of the bout due to kidney stones. The match was rescheduled and took place at Bellator NYC on June 24, 2017. Mitrione won the fight via knockout in the first round.

Personal life

Mitrione is of Irish (mother, Cecelia) and Italian (father, Robert) descent. He has two sons and one daughter. He is no longer married to former wife, Tina. The couple divorced amicably in December 2014 after 9 years of marriage. Mitrione is friends with Drew Brees, as the two were teammates at Purdue University from 1997-2001 and members of Joe Tiller's first recruiting class. Mitrione is also close friends with NFL tight end Jeremy Shockey, who were teammates while playing for the New York Giants. Has casually competed in several eating competitions and lost miserably in all of them most recent being D.T. Kirby's 4th annual Wing Eating Contest.

Charity work

Mitrione has been involved with several other UFC fighters (Sean Pierson, Mark Hominick, and Sam Stout) as part of a Toronto area anti-bullying program.

Championships and accomplishments