Heavyweight rematch
Mitrione and Nelson meet again but for Bellator
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – When Matt Mitrione steps in to fight Roy Nelson on Friday night, it’ll be a rematch, even if Mitrione is doing his best to not think of it that way.
Mitrione (12-5 mixed martial arts, 3-0 Bellator MMA) first fought Nelson (2214, 1-0) in December 2012 when the two were heavyweights in the UFC. They were castmates on Season 10 of The Ul
timate Fighter, so they were familiar with each other. When they fought, Nelson knocked Mitrione out in less than three minutes.
But Mitrione wouldn’t mind if there was an asterisk there, at least now that he’s fighting Nelson again.
“I understand it’s a rematch on paper, but I don’t really feel like it is,” Mitrione told USA TODAY this week in Uncasville, where Bellator 194 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena (Paramount, 9 p.m. ET). “I feel like just the growth (I’ve had), in itself, (makes this different). When I fought Roy (the first time), I had six fights. (It was) Roy’s 24th or 25th. So he had a lot of experience in situations I didn’t.
“It’s in the record books that he beat me, knocked me down, first guy to TKO me — good for him. But I don’t really consider this a rematch.”
There is much more at stake this time for both fighters. Their meeting is in the opening round of Bellator’s ongoing heavyweight grand prix tournament. By year’s end, the promotion hopes to have a winner, who then will be the next heavyweight champion. Not only is Mitrione about a 2-1 favorite against Nelson on Friday, but he’s the odds-on fa- vorite to win the whole tournament.
He also believes his toughest test in the whole thing might be the first one. He found the pairing to be a curious one, even if he also believed it was an inevitable one.
“I asked (Bellator) — I was like, ‘How does that make sense?’ ” Mitrione said. “Roy’s arguably the No. 2 guy in the division. Explain that to me. (But) either I beat Roy when I have the strap or I beat Roy to get the strap. What the hell difference does it make?”
Mitrione has won three consecutive fights since coming to Bellator as a free agent from the UFC, including a knockout of legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko in June at Madison Square Garden.
Nelson signed with Bellator in 2017 and won his debut with a decision over Javy Ayala.
At 41, Nelson in the tournament’s elder statesman, though Mitrione isn’t far behind at 39 and only one fighter in the eight-man field is younger than 37. And while it might be a rematch of a fight he’s already won, he seems less concerned with the names in front of him and more worried about just making sure to get three wins to get a title.
“I like being the old guy in the tournament — it gives fans something to root for,” Nelson said. “As long as I was in the tournament, I knew I had to beat three guys. I didn’t care what guys it was. It makes it really simple for me.”
The Mitrione-Nelson winner moves on in the bracket to an eventual fight against the winner between current Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader and Muhammed Lawal, also a light heavyweight. Bader and Lawal fight in May in San Jose.