As of right now, you might say Matt Mitrione has one step out the UFC door and another in the one at Bellator MMA headquarters.
Mitrione, who has fought his entire professional MMA career inside the Octagon, recently said on The MMA Hour that he was presented with a “very nice offer” from Bellator to join the heavyweight division. The 37-year former NFL player completed his UFC deal with a loss to Travis Browne.
“UFC has the right to match. Definitely, I’ve got a very nice offer from Bellator,” Mitrione said (thanks to MMAFighting.com for transcribing). “I’ve been in talks with ONE (Championship). I feel I am very happy with where things are with Bellator right now.
“As a matter of fact, I actually sent in (Monday) the official offer sheet from Bellator into the UFC to see if they want to match.”
While fighters such as Benson Henderson, Josh Koscheck and Josh Thomson have left the UFC for Bellator, “Meathead” is content to wait and see what happens.
“If they (match), awesome,” he said. “Great, then we can have a conversation.”
Currently, Mitrione noted that he is working to secure a color commentary job on television while waiting to see what happens with his fighting career.
The loss to Browne remains an issue with Mitrione, as he was hampered by several illegal eye pokes that left him unable to see the Hawaiian as the fight reached its climax. He has filed an appeal with the athletic commission in the state of Massachusetts in hopes of having the bout overturned and a rematch signed if he returns to the UFC.
“I’m still stuck on Travis,” he said. “I want to fight Travis. I got a grievance and I have a vendetta.”