Former professional football player turned MMA fighter, Matt “Meathead” Mitrione, is about to participate in the biggest fight of his very young career. At UFC 113, Mitrione will face Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, a man who attracts more attention than his 4-1 record would indicate. Not that it makes a difference to Mitrione. After having played in the NFL with the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings, “Meathead” is used to being under the watchful eye of fans.

Unbeknownst to him, an auspicious training visit lead Mitrione back to an old classmate who would ultimately introduce him to the sport of MMA.

“When I was with the San Francisco 49ers, the defensive line coach took us to American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) to train, and I actually went to high school with Jon Fitch and we reconnected out there, became roommates and started talking MMA. It was pretty cool to meet up with him again.”

Once nagging injuries forced him out of the league, Mitrione tried to make it in the suit and tie world, but it quickly became clear that the desire for competition was too great. One final run at football glory eventually lead him to an impromptu MMA fight. From there, the fire had been ignited.

“When I got out of the NFL in 2005, I went into the corporate world, and while I had a lucrative insurance job, it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t deal with that type of environment. Then I left for a startup football league called the All American Football League that went under. Then a good friend of mine named Jayson Werth (star outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies) called me and told me he was putting on a MMA show in our hometown of Springfield, Illinois. He asked me to fight in it since he knew I used to get in fights all the time. So, of course I said yes and I just got really into it. From there I found Chris Lytle, Jake O’Brien and my current coach and the rest is history. Eight months later I was on The Ultimate Fighter.”

During the show, Mitrione took the brunt of criticism from his teammates and coaches, earning the unofficial nickname “Meathead” from Rashad Evans. Accused of having a spotty work ethic, he became the bad guy of the season. MMA fans were quick to lash out, but Mitrione attributes some of the bad press to tricky editing.

“To a certain extent it bothered me, but I did a lot of dumb stuff on that show. And I can see how people would hate me after watching the show. I did everything that people saw, so I can’t be that upset about it, but there was some crafty editing going on to create those storylines.

One cast member in particular, Marcus Jones, took issue with Mitrione. A former professional football player himself, Jones angled to fight “Meathead” at the TUF 10 finale. He got his wish. Leading up to the bout, many fans thought Jones would dominate the match from the start. Mitrione had other ideas.

“I wanted to fight Marcus the whole time we were on the show. People who thought I was scared to fight him were crazy. They didn’t know me, so I can’t blame them. And he’s an intimidating looking guy, but I’m not easily intimidated. I knew I was gonna knock him out, there was no doubt in my mind. Marcus was a stepping stone, he had nothing for me.”

Coincidentally, Ferguson was also part of the same TUF cast. Since “Kimbo” lost to Roy Nelson early in the season, Mitrione wasn’t able to get a real sense of the infamous internet brawler as a fighter, but he did get to know the man.

“I didn’t see him fight enough in the house to really get a good gauge on him as a fighter. But as a person, he’s a cool dude. I got nothing but respect for him. After this fight we’ll be cool, before this fight we’ll be cool, but during the fight were gonna try to knock each other out. And as long as neither one of us have to go to the hospital after the fight, I guarantee you we’ll be drinking beers together later that night.”

Despite having one official MMA fight on his record, Mitrione is confident heading into the bout.

“I feel very comfortable on my feet banging whether it’s in the hole or making space. Wherever the hell this thing goes. If we start fighting in the crowd, I feel very comfortable with all that. I’m very confident that my reach, that my hands, that my chin and my athleticism are going to give him trouble. I could be wrong. He could just come in and kick the crap out of me and knock me out with his first punch but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

With tongue in cheek, Mitrione has a clear picture of how the fight will play out.

“Kimbo is going to sleep. I wanna punch him, elbow him, and knee him. I’ll even hit him with a frying pan if I have to. And if that doesn’t work, I’m gonna lace my gloves with super glue so that every time I punch him he loses his whiskers. Seriously though, this one is ending soon.”

Love him or hate him, Mitrione plans to put on a show. Come Saturday, if everything goes correctly, he may finally win over some of the fans who had previously counted him out.

(Source: MMA Mania)