UFC heavyweight and “TUF 10″ fighter Matt Mitrione (3-0) will face just his fourth opponent as a professional mixed martial artist, all of which have been fought under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner.
On Jan. 22, Mitrione will step into the octagon to face Canadian Tim Hague at the upcoming UFC Fight for the Troops II event. Fans first met Mitrione on the set of Season Ten of “The Ultimate Fighter” and have watched him improve since his first win over housemate Marcus Jones at the shows Finale.
Mitrione spoke to MMAWeekly.com about how far he’s come since then and how much more he needs to improve as a fighter in a recent interview.
“I think from my time on TUF to now, I think I’ve done pretty well with things. haven’t lost in front of a million people, so that’s not too bad. I’ve found that I’m good at some things and have a whole lot of room to develop the things that I’m good at, and a lot more to develop the things I suck at. I’d say I’ve probably made the most improvement in muscle contro. 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 then to go for the finish, or when it’s time to pot-shot. I think that’s the craft I’ve developed the most. Wrestling and jiu-jitsu are games of centimeters, and if you don’t know this exact maneuver or this exact counter, you can go from escaping something relatively painlessly to fighting your ass off to catch your breath to breaking something.”
Mitrione is coming off a unanimous decision win over Joey Beltran at UFC 119 in September and also earned a TKO win over TUF 10 alumni “Kimbo Slice” this year.