Fresh off KO victory, Matt Mitrione wouldn’t mind facing Andrei Arlovski next

If in UFC matchmaking timing is the next best thing to merit, then Matt Mitrione has got a possible opponent on his mind.

Mitrione, fresh off his knockout victory over Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 50 in Foxwoods, fancies testing himself against Andrei Arlovski next. UFC Tonight reported that Mitrione loves the idea of challenging himself against a name commodity like Arlovski, who himself is coming off an explosive knockout of Antonio Silva last weekend at UFC Fight Night 51 in Brazil.

The 36-year old Mitrione told Ariel Helwani that he feels like Arlovski is the fight that he needs to take the next step towards contention. Having fought all 11 of his professional MMA bouts in the UFC, and having amassed an 8-3 record with a two-fight win streak, Mitrione looks at the suddenly revitalized Arlovski as an appropriate step in his career.

Mitrione had hoped to land a fight with Alistair Overeem, if Overeem would have gotten by Ben Rothwell that same night in Connecticut. Since Overeem didn’t, Mitrione — who told UFC Tonight that out of respect for Arlovski he doesn’t want to blatantly call him out  — is intrigued by how he’d stack up in the former UFC champion. He said that Arlovski was a chance to “really put something together here” and move into the heavyweight rankings.

The former NFL football player Mitrione needed only 41 seconds to knockout Lewis at Foxwoods. Before that he knocked out Shawn Jordan with just one second left in the first round in Macau. Mitrione is third all-time in the UFC in knockouts with seven. His only victory in the UFC that he didn’t finish via KO or TKO was against Joey Beltran back at UFC 119.

Arlovski has resurrected a career that looked like it was in a tailspin back in early 2011. After losing four straight bouts – three of which he was knocked out in — the 35-year old Arlovski has gone 8-1-(1) in ProElite, ONE FC, WSOF and now the UFC. Since coming back to Zuffa he has gone 2-0, with victories over Brendan Schaub and “Bigfoot” Silva.

Mitrione told UFC Tonight he feels like he might have some leeway in the matter, as he was led to believe that if he took the Lewis fight — and won — he’d get a higher-profile fight the next time through. “I need to make up fro the step back I took,” he told Ariel Helwani.

If in UFC matchmaking timing is the next best thing to merit, then Matt Mitrione has got a possible opponent on his mind.

Mitrione, fresh off his knockout victory over Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 50 in Foxwoods, fancies testing himself against Andrei Arlovski next. UFC Tonight reported that Mitrione loves the idea of challenging himself against a name commodity like Arlovski, who himself is coming off an explosive knockout of Antonio Silva last weekend at UFC Fight Night 51 in Brazil.

The 36-year old Mitrione told Ariel Helwani that he feels like Arlovski is the fight that he needs to take the next step towards contention. Having fought all 11 of his professional MMA bouts in the UFC, and having amassed an 8-3 record with a two-fight win streak, Mitrione looks at the suddenly revitalized Arlovski as an appropriate step in his career.

Mitrione had hoped to land a fight with Alistair Overeem, if Overeem would have gotten by Ben Rothwell that same night in Connecticut. Since Overeem didn’t, Mitrione — who told UFC Tonight that out of respect for Arlovski he doesn’t want to blatantly call him out  — is intrigued by how he’d stack up in the former UFC champion. He said that Arlovski was a chance to “really put something together here” and move into the heavyweight rankings.

The former NFL football player Mitrione needed only 41 seconds to knockout Lewis at Foxwoods. Before that he knocked out Shawn Jordan with just one second left in the first round in Macau. Mitrione is third all-time in the UFC in knockouts with seven. His only victory in the UFC that he didn’t finish via KO or TKO was against Joey Beltran back at UFC 119.

Arlovski has resurrected a career that looked like it was in a tailspin back in early 2011. After losing four straight bouts – three of which he was knocked out in — the 35-year old Arlovski has gone 8-1-(1) in ProElite, ONE FC, WSOF and now the UFC. Since coming back to Zuffa he has gone 2-0, with victories over Brendan Schaub and “Bigfoot” Silva.

Mitrione told UFC Tonight he feels like he might have some leeway in the matter, as he was led to believe that if he took the Lewis fight — and won — he’d get a higher-profile fight the next time through. “I need to make up fro the step back I took,” he told Ariel Helwani.