Matt Mitrione Leaves UFC, Signs With Bellator MMA
As expected, Matt Mitrione is no longer a UFC competitor.
After his highly publicized free agency in the wake of his controversial loss to Travis Browne at January’s UFC Fight Night 81, Mitrione said he would test his value from other promotions such as Bellator. Appearing on today’s edition of The MMA Hour, “Meathead” revealed that he had indeed chosen to opt to sign with Scott Coker‘s suddenly buzz-worthy outfit.
Mitrione stated he had signed a four-fight deal with each fight paying him a guarantee of six figures, a number he called ‘double’ his UFC pay. The popular former NFL football player and TUF veteran had fought every bout of his MMA career in the UFC, but descirbed how the things he once loved had left the world’s bigest MMA promoters after his vocal criticism of their Reebok sponsorship deal and overall fighter pay:
“”I was really interested in the options that Bellator was offering and I was really interested in the conversation they were willing to have. I think that they’re making the rights moves,” Mitrione said. “I think sometimes you get into a spot where the things you fall in love about one organization don’t necessarily seem to be anymore and greener pastures seem to be somewhere else.”
Despite his firm displeasure with the way sponsorships were handled in the media, he said he actually has no animosity towards the UFC and always let his employer know what he thought, even if it didn’t turn out how he would have liked it to:
“I have no axe to grind with the UFC at all,” Mitrione said. “I don’t think some of the things that happened, especially with like the sponsor were handled as well as they should have been. And I’ve always said my opinion directly to [UFC CEO] Lorenzo [Fertitta]. I told Lorenzo my thoughts on it, how to make it better. It just wasn’t the conversation that I was hoping it would go. But I don’t think that had a reason in them not offering me something else. I think they know that I have a value.”
Mitrione leaves the UFC with a 9-5 overall record with eight of his victories coming by T/KO. He also earned three post-fight bonuses in the span. ‘Meathead’ most recently lost his last two bouts to Browne and Ben Rothwell, although he’s appealing the former due to series of vicious eye pokes that were not properly handled by the referee and resulted in a badly swollen broken orbital.
As for his future, he said he would be fighting ‘very soon’ and would also be commentating at the inaugural Bellator Kickboxing event on April 16, which he described with enthusiam, saying “This is something I’ve wanted to do all my life.”
The future seems bright for Mitrione in Bellator, and is was becoming a bit apparent that he had perhaps outstayed his welcome in the UFC. He joins Benson Henderson as the latest high-profile former UFC signing in the last several months. Will it make a big impact for the active but controversial second son of fighting?
