Roy Nelson was originally expected to meet opposing The Ultimate Fighter 16 coach Shane Carwin at Saturday’s season finale. However, Carwin suffered an injury, which allowed Matt Mitrione to step in as a replacement for the main event bout with Nelson.
The event headliners both competed on The Ultimate Fighter 10, which Nelson won by knocking out Brendan Schaub. Mitrione was submitted by James McSweeney on the reality series, but his pure athleticism has taken him far since joining the UFC roster.
Now, Mitrione has a chance to show just how far he has come as a fighter by beating the fighter who won a tournament which he was eliminated from in the quarterfinal round. Let’s take a look at Mitrione’s chances of picking up what would be the biggest win of his career.