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Matt Mitrone on Differences Between UFC, Bellator and Life Away From the Cage



Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Matt Mitrione kicks off the Bellator MMA Grand Prix quarter finals Friday against Roy Nelson.

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The man known as “Meathead” from his days as an NFL player, recently sat down with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA hour” to talk through a range of topics including his current and former employers, as well as life away from fighting.

Mitrione left the UFC in 2016 as a free agent and has been vocal in the past about its business practices, particularly after the company signed with Reebok, which meant sponsorship money is now based on a set rate depending on the number of appearances fighters had inside the Octagon. In fact, Mitrione is making more money now than when he was fighting in the UFC.

“It’s good business, man,” Mitrione said.

When questioned about the differences between the UFC and Bellator, Mitrione said the following:

“I feel like they’re not in like a colossal nosedive, but I don’t think they’re in the right spot,” Mitrione said. “I think very casually, [Bellator president] Mr. [Scott] Coker does what he needs to do to bring fans or eyes over to Bellator. I think their production is completely different with Bellator. It’s a spectacle. He took a page from old Japanese MMA and made it bananas.”

Mitrione (12-5) is on a three fight winning streak since joining Bellator and faces former “The Ultimate Fighter” contestant in Roy Nelson with the winner to move into the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix.

Mitrione is nearing the end of his contract and is not 100 percent set on retiring once the deal is over. Mitrione will assess the situation once the tournament concludes, but is feeling healthy and ready to go.

“From that, we’ll see,” Mitrione said. “If my body feels good, if my kids want me to me to retire. If I have a career afterwards, which I do.”

“I’m not really worried about it. I feel great, I feel healthy.” Mitrione said.

Outside of fighting, Mitrione has three kids and wants to focus more time on spending time with them after admitting the toll that fighting has taken with all the traveling and training.

“My entire life path is to become a better father and to become better to the people that are involved in my life,” Mitrione said.

“My entire life is violence,” he said. “If I don’t ever leave work at work, then I never leave violence. And I can’t be that way, I can’t be aggressive, I can’t have that mindset when I’m a father. When I’m trying to rebuild bridges that I’ve either burnt from being gone or never had a chance to build because I was gone.

“We don’t have time to watch that. I’d rather scrap book with my daughter or build friendship bracelets. Stuff like that with my daughter.”
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