Meathead: Smartass Extraordinaire
Matt ‘Meathead’ Mitrione said after a recent fight that he wants to fight like Dominick Cruz---light on the feet and elusive. After watching Cruz’s mastery against Faber at UFC 132, it seems like an honorable goal. To his credit, Mitrione has looked Cruzesque in his wins, dipping and bopping and sliding after throwing combos. He is light on his feet for a big man, a trait that likely did him well in the NFL, where he tipped the toledos at 300 while on the Vikings’ and Giants’ rosters.
The vision of Mitrione that sticks in what passes for my mind is from TUF Heavyweights, when the huge former NFL star Marcus Jones stood and yelled an inch away from Mitrione’s ear. Meathead turned his face away from the much bigger Jones, in an effort to diffuse the situation. At that time I thought Jones would utterly devour Mitrione in their fight in the Finale. Boy, was I wrong.
The fight with Jones was Mitrione’s pro debut. In his next fight, Meathead chopped down Kimbo Slice with devastating leg kicks while grinning through his mouthpiece. After that a unanimous decision over ultra-tough Joey Beltran won them both fight of the night honors. He followed that up with a TKO and KO victory over Time Hague and Christian Morecraft respectively.
Mitrione is gaining respect from fighters and fans alike because he possesses three things that have proved highly successful for Junior dos Santos and current HW champ Cain Velasquez: a fit but not overly-muscular physique; speed; punches in bunches.
There are some great primer fights for Mitrione. Travis Browne, 11-0-1 with three UFC wins---including a draw with Kongo and a KO win over Struve---would be a telling match for both fighters. Dave ‘Pee Wee' Herman is another intriguing match up for Meathead. Herman recently beat up John-Olav Einemo, the world champion submission fighter, in an impressive UFC debut in Vancouver. Another fight I’d like to see is Mitrione v. Ben Rothwell, who can take a ridiculous amount of punishment. Regardless of who Joe Silva pits against Mitrione, I’ve learned after 18 years of watching the UFC that one of the most enjoyable aspects of the sport is sighting the real prospect and following him to title contention, a la dos Santos or Velasquez.
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But that doesn’t mean Meathead is a lock. Fitch, Sanchez, Florian and others have looked stellar on their way to a title bout but couldn’t quite take the belt. The HW division is stacked these days, and the varied dimensions and skill sets of fighters like Velasquez, dos Santos, Carwin, Lesnar, Mir and Kongo make running the gauntlet and holding the belt an almost (but not) insurmountable task. I’ve predicted that the winner of Velasquez-dos Santos will hold the title for a while, but who knows what could happen with Mitrione improving and Frank Mir looking impressive in his wins?
“You can't always swing as hard as you want to; you sometimes have to gauge it. I'm at that point now that I understand when it's time for the big shot and when to go for the finish, or when it's time to pot-shot. I think that's the craft I've developed the most." -Matt Mitrione
It’s this kind of intelligence, along with his gift of gab, that could rocket Meathead into fan’s hearts and the top of the rankings, and force the former NFLer to come up with a more suitable nickname. How about ‘Smartass’?---respect intended.
By Renko Styranka
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer