Ex-Big Blue lineman up against best
MATT Mitrione wouldn’t have been surprised to receive a text message on Friday from Michael Strahan or Jesse Palmer commenting about “how fat I looked at the weigh-in.”
In the past, they would have given their former Giants teammate some playful grief before he stepped into an MMA cage.
“It’s cool because it shows they care,” said Mitrione, who was a defensive end on the Giants in 2002.
Mitrione was back on the scales Friday, checking in at 256 pounds for his heavyweight showdown with Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko in the co-feature of Saturday night’s BellatorNYC card at Madison Square Garden.
It’s the New York debut for Bellator, the Viacombacked MMA promotional company that is staging its first pay-per-view card. Chael Sonnen battles Wanderlei Silva in the main event, Michael Chandler defends his lightweight title against Brent Primus and Douglas Lima puts up his welterweight belt against Lorenz Larkin.
Spike TV will broadcast a portion of the action, including Phil Davis defending his light heavyweight title against Ryan Bader, and Brooklyn-based boxer Heather Hardy, in her MMA debut.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Mitrione, whose was raised in Illinois, but has extended New Jersey family in Nutley, Bloomfield and Secaucus. His grandfather is the police chief in Lyndhurst, and his father was all-state in football and wrestling in West Caldwell.
He expects his relatives and ex-teammates to be in the Garden crowd Saturday night.
“I’m in their backyard now, so they’re going to show up and watch me knock this dude out,” he said. “That means a lot to me. It’s a lot of pride. I carry the Big Blue with me all the time.”
Mitrione made stops with the 49ers and Vikings before being released in 2005. A past participant in various Toughman competitions, Mitrione found his way to The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale and eventually matched against the late Kimbo Slice at UFC 113 in Montreal. Mitrione scored a huge upset that night and fought with the UFC through 2016 before signing with Bellator last March.
With a career record of 11-5, Mitrione is looking forward to facing Emelianenko (36-4-1).
“He’s the greatest heavyweight of all time, hands down,” Mitrione said. “Why is he the greatest? He beat the best every time and he beat them in ways nobody else had ever beaten them with joint locks, knockouts, chokes, ground and pound. He’s a bad ass. Will it bother me punching him in the face? Not one bit because that’s my money. I have three kids at home.”
Hardy, meanwhile, is looking forward to stepping into the cage after compiling a 20-0-1 record as a boxer. She began training in MMA when the local boxing scene dried up following a huge increase in insurance regulations.
“I found out halfway through this training camp that I love this sport, too,” Hardy said. “A boxing fan will tell people it’s a beautiful sport when you see two boxers in the ring and they know what they’re doing and it can be like watching two people dance. The same can be said for MMA once you start to learn and appreciate the beauty of the martial arts.”