As expected, Matt Mitrione is no longer a UFC competitor. After his highly publicized free agency in the wake of his controversial loss to Travis Browne at January’s UFC Fight Night 81, Mitrione said he would test his value from other promotions such as Bellator. Appearing on today’s edition of The MMA Hour, “Meathead” revealed that
As expected, Matt Mitrione is no longer a UFC competitor.
After his highly publicized free agency in the wake of his controversial loss to Travis Browne at January’s UFC Fight Night 81, Mitrione said he would test his value from other promotions such as Bellator. Appearing on today’s edition of The MMA Hour, “Meathead” revealed that he had indeed chosen to opt to sign with Scott Coker’s suddenly buzz-worthy outfit.
Mitrione stated he had signed a four-fight deal with each fight paying him a guarantee of six figures, a number he called ‘double’ his UFC pay. The popular former NFL football player and TUF veteran had fought every bout of his MMA career in the UFC, but descirbed how the things he once loved had left the world’s bigest MMA promoters after his vocal criticism of their Reebok sponsorship deal and overall fighter pay:
“I was really interested in the options that Bellator was offering and I was really interested in the conversation they were willing to have. I think that they’re making the rights moves,” Mitrione said. “I think sometimes you get into a spot where the things you fall in love about one organization don’t necessarily seem to be anymore and greener pastures seem to be somewhere else.”
Despite his firm displeasure with the way sponsorships were handled in the media, he said he actually has no animosity towards the UFC and always let his employer know what he thought, even if it didn’t turn out how he would have liked it to:
“I have no axe to grind with the UFC at all,” Mitrione said. “I don’t think some of the things that happened, especially with like the sponsor were handled as well as they should have been. And I’ve always said my opinion directly to [UFC CEO] Lorenzo [Fertitta]. I told Lorenzo my thoughts on it, how to make it better. It just wasn’t the conversation that I was hoping it would go. But I don’t think that had a reason in them not offering me something else. I think they know that I have a value.”
Mitrione leaves the UFC with a 9-5 overall record with eight of his victories coming by T/KO. He also earned three post-fight bonuses in the span. ‘Meathead’ most recently lost his last two bouts to Browne and Ben Rothwell, although he’s appealing the former due to series of vicious eye pokes that were not properly handled by the referee and resulted in a badly swollen broken orbital.
As for his future, he said he would be fighting ‘very soon’ and would also be commentating at the inaugural Bellator Kickboxing event on April 16, which he described with enthusiam, saying “This is something I’ve wanted to do all my life.”
The future seems bright for Mitrione in Bellator, and is was becoming a bit apparent that he had perhaps outstayed his welcome in the UFC. He joins Benson Henderson as the latest high-profile former UFC signing in the last several months. Will it make a big impact for the active but controversial second son of fighting?
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…
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.”
After signing a contract with Bellator MMA, Wanderlei Silva has another fighting home, agreeing to a deal with RIZIN FF.
The promotion announced Monday that they have signed Silva to a multi-year promotional contract. He is set to compete in a “grappling tag match” on April 17 at RIZIN FF 2.
Silva, a former PRIDE middleweight and 2003 PRIDE Grand Prix champion, will team up with a yet-to-be-announced fighter against Kazushi Sakuraba and Hideo Tokoro.
Moving forward, Silva will move into MMA fights for the promotion. In regards to his fighting status in North America, “The Axe Murderer” remains suspended until next year.
Below is the complete press release:
RIZIN FF, the combat sports promotion led by former PRIDE FC head Nobuyuki Sakakibara, announced during a press conference, the signing of all-time Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) great Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (35-12-1, 1 NC) to a multi-year promotional contract, as well as the first two bouts, one of which will feature Silva, for its second live event that will take place at the 10,000 capacity Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan on Sunday, April 17.
Priced from 100,000 yen, tickets for “Top Presents RIZIN Fighting Federation I” are on sale and can be purchased online at TicketBis.com.
Silva, the former PRIDE middleweight champion and 2003 PRIDE Grand Prix middleweight champion, will team up with a fighter to be determined, in a special grappling “tag match,” the rules for which will be announced soon, and battle a duo consisting of another legend, Kazushi Sakuraba, (26-17-1, 2 NC) and Hideo Tokoro (33-28-2).
Following the April contest, Silva, who held several records under the PRIDE banner, including longest win streak and most KO’s, will compete under MMA rules in future RIZIN FF events.
In a 180 pound MMA rules contest, devastating power puncher Hisaki Kato (5-2) will take on fellow prolific finisher Yuta “Andre” Watanabe (19-6-4).
A former HEAT middleweight title holder, the 33-year-old Kato made an explosive debut before a live U.S. television audience on Spike when he scored what was later named “Knockout of the Month” – a crushing, second round (:34) KO (punch) on American star Joe “Stitch ‘Em Up” Schilling at Bellator 139 on June 26, 2015.
To date, all of Kato’s professional victories have come by way of (T)KO.
Watanabe is a 31-year-old grappling ace who boasts a splendid 84 percent finish rate, with 11 of his 19 career wins to date having come by way of submission and another 6 victories having come by way of (T)KO.
The number 10 ranked welterweight in Japan, Watanabe will make his first appearance of 2016 and look to rebound from a first round (2:00) submission (rear-naked choke) defeat at the hands of Keita Nakamura on July 20, 2015, a loss that halted a seven-fight win streak for Watanabe.
In two different women’s bouts, Rena Kubota (1-0 MMA, 31-5-1 shoot boxing) will square off an opponent to be named under shoot boxing rules, while decorated wrestler Kanako Murata (0-0) will make her highly-anticipated MMA debut against an opponent to be announced soon.
The 24-year-old Kubota is a three-time shoot boxing tournament champion who made her much-anticipated MMA debut in stunning fashion at the RIZIN FF New Year’s Eve extravaganza, where she notched a second round (3:31) submission victory over Jleana Valentino with a flying armbar.
The 22-year-old Murata’s impressive resume includes three junior Olympic medals. Her most impressive feat, however, came in 2011 when Murata nearly defeated four-time Olympic gold medalist Saori Yoshida during the All-Japan championships.
Additional bouts for “Top Presents RIZIN Fighting Federation I” will be announced soon.
After signing a contract with Bellator MMA, Wanderlei Silva has another fighting home, agreeing to a deal with RIZIN FF.
The promotion announced Monday that they have signed Silva to a multi-year promotional contract. He is set to compete in a “grappling tag match” on April 17 at RIZIN FF 2.
Silva, a former PRIDE middleweight and 2003 PRIDE Grand Prix champion, will team up with a yet-to-be-announced fighter against Kazushi Sakuraba and Hideo Tokoro.
Moving forward, Silva will move into MMA fights for the promotion. In regards to his fighting status in North America, “The Axe Murderer” remains suspended until next year.
Below is the complete press release:
RIZIN FF, the combat sports promotion led by former PRIDE FC head Nobuyuki Sakakibara, announced during a press conference, the signing of all-time Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) great Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (35-12-1, 1 NC) to a multi-year promotional contract, as well as the first two bouts, one of which will feature Silva, for its second live event that will take place at the 10,000 capacity Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan on Sunday, April 17.
Priced from 100,000 yen, tickets for “Top Presents RIZIN Fighting Federation I” are on sale and can be purchased online at TicketBis.com.
Silva, the former PRIDE middleweight champion and 2003 PRIDE Grand Prix middleweight champion, will team up with a fighter to be determined, in a special grappling “tag match,” the rules for which will be announced soon, and battle a duo consisting of another legend, Kazushi Sakuraba, (26-17-1, 2 NC) and Hideo Tokoro (33-28-2).
Following the April contest, Silva, who held several records under the PRIDE banner, including longest win streak and most KO’s, will compete under MMA rules in future RIZIN FF events.
In a 180 pound MMA rules contest, devastating power puncher Hisaki Kato (5-2) will take on fellow prolific finisher Yuta “Andre” Watanabe (19-6-4).
A former HEAT middleweight title holder, the 33-year-old Kato made an explosive debut before a live U.S. television audience on Spike when he scored what was later named “Knockout of the Month” – a crushing, second round (:34) KO (punch) on American star Joe “Stitch ‘Em Up” Schilling at Bellator 139 on June 26, 2015.
To date, all of Kato’s professional victories have come by way of (T)KO.
Watanabe is a 31-year-old grappling ace who boasts a splendid 84 percent finish rate, with 11 of his 19 career wins to date having come by way of submission and another 6 victories having come by way of (T)KO.
The number 10 ranked welterweight in Japan, Watanabe will make his first appearance of 2016 and look to rebound from a first round (2:00) submission (rear-naked choke) defeat at the hands of Keita Nakamura on July 20, 2015, a loss that halted a seven-fight win streak for Watanabe.
In two different women’s bouts, Rena Kubota (1-0 MMA, 31-5-1 shoot boxing) will square off an opponent to be named under shoot boxing rules, while decorated wrestler Kanako Murata (0-0) will make her highly-anticipated MMA debut against an opponent to be announced soon.
The 24-year-old Kubota is a three-time shoot boxing tournament champion who made her much-anticipated MMA debut in stunning fashion at the RIZIN FF New Year’s Eve extravaganza, where she notched a second round (3:31) submission victory over Jleana Valentino with a flying armbar.
The 22-year-old Murata’s impressive resume includes three junior Olympic medals. Her most impressive feat, however, came in 2011 when Murata nearly defeated four-time Olympic gold medalist Saori Yoshida during the All-Japan championships.
Additional bouts for “Top Presents RIZIN Fighting Federation I” will be announced soon.
Silva (35-12-1) has not fought in over three years and is currently suspended after refusing to take a drug test by the Nevada Athletic Commission. His ban will end in the spring of 2017, but it remains unclear if Silva will try to compete outside of North America.
After the ordeal with the NAC, Silva was given a lifetime ban from the commission. He appealed, and it was overturned last year. However, he remained under contract to the UFC until this past January, when the two sides brokered a deal, making the 39-year-old a free agent.
Silva has made it known on social media that he would like to fight fellow former Pride legend Fedor Emelianenko, who is currently signed to a fight contract with Rizin. Bellator and Rizin put on a show in Japan for New Year’s Eve.
The last time Silva fought was in 2013 when he knocked out Brian Stann. He went 3-2 over his last five UFC fights.
He is a former Pride middleweight champion and Pride Middleweight Grand Prix winner, along with two semifinal appearances.
Today in Houston, Texas as part of the festivities leading into tomorrow night’s Bellator MMA card, Bellator president Scott Coker announced that they will be launching a sub-brand, Bellator Kickboxing. Coker, of course, was a kickboxing promoter for decades before he ever got into MMA promotion. That’s why you sometimes hear about Strikeforce existing back into the mid-’80s; it was originally Coker’s kickboxing promotion with Cung Le and AKA head trainer Javier Mendez as the top stars. If you watched kickboxing on ESPN2 in the ’90s through the early ’00s, Coker provided much of that programming, with Lou Neglia’s northeast promotion making up most of the rest.
Coker and company unveiled a logo for the kickboxing promotion as part of the presentation:
The first card will take place on April 16th in Turin, Italy as part of a co-promotion with the Oktagon promotion that runs in the region. According to MMA Junkie’s report on the announcement, among the names being pushed as Bellator Kickboxing stars were Joe Schilling, Raymond Daniels, Kevin Ross (one of Lion Fight’s signature stars), Keri Taylor-Melendez (Gilbert Melendez’s wife), and recent Bellator signee Anastasia Yankova.
Something like this had been rumored for a while, and became fairly obvious when Glory Kickboxing finished up with Spike TV after the “Glory” portion of the combined Bellator/Glory “Dynamite” card last year barely included Glory talent. On top of that, the Italy date and Oktagon’s involvement had both been public for a while, and it never really made sense why Bellator was co-promoting wth a local kickboxing group for a major MMA card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oBhSq0xEA
Today in Houston, Texas as part of the festivities leading into tomorrow night’s Bellator MMA card, Bellator president Scott Coker announced that they will be launching a sub-brand, Bellator Kickboxing. Coker, of course, was a kickboxing promoter for decades before he ever got into MMA promotion. That’s why you sometimes hear about Strikeforce existing back into the mid-’80s; it was originally Coker’s kickboxing promotion with Cung Le and AKA head trainer Javier Mendez as the top stars. If you watched kickboxing on ESPN2 in the ’90s through the early ’00s, Coker provided much of that programming, with Lou Neglia’s northeast promotion making up most of the rest.
Coker and company unveiled a logo for the kickboxing promotion as part of the presentation:
The first card will take place on April 16th in Turin, Italy as part of a co-promotion with the Oktagon promotion that runs in the region. According to MMA Junkie’s report on the announcement, among the names being pushed as Bellator Kickboxing stars were Joe Schilling, Raymond Daniels, Kevin Ross (one of Lion Fight’s signature stars), Keri Taylor-Melendez (Gilbert Melendez’s wife), and recent Bellator signee Anastasia Yankova.
Something like this had been rumored for a while, and became fairly obvious when Glory Kickboxing finished up with Spike TV after the “Glory” portion of the combined Bellator/Glory “Dynamite” card last year barely included Glory talent. On top of that, the Italy date and Oktagon’s involvement had both been public for a while, and it never really made sense why Bellator was co-promoting wth a local kickboxing group for a major MMA card.
Watch the hilarious Bellator 149 ‘baby nuts’ face off with Kimbo Slice, Dada 5000, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. It was, well, you just need to watch it….. Whether you appreciate Bellator’s jaunty approach to the mixed martial arts game or not, you have to admit it can be damn entertaining at times. The consensus #2 promotion
Watch the hilarious Bellator 149 ‘baby nuts’ face off with Kimbo Slice, Dada 5000, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie. It was, well, you just need to watch it…..
Whether you appreciate Bellator’s jaunty approach to the mixed martial arts game or not, you have to admit it can be damn entertaining at times. The consensus #2 promotion behind the UFC is always making their best attempts at signing current and former UFC stars, or just about anyone that can bring in ratings. As a result, you have a Bellator 149 main card that’s stacked with some very unexpected faces. Then there’s the return of Kimbo Slice for BMMA, as he looks to build on his knockout victory over Ken Shamrock, as he faces Dada 5000.
‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ is also on show in the main event, as Shamrock faces fellow UFC legend Royce Gracie for the third time in their storied careers. But the Bellator 149 press conference was all about the co-main event between street fighting sensations Kimbo Slice and Dada 5000.
In case you didn’t get the chance to see the press conference video, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Check it out in all it’s crazy and entertaining glory right here:
Just…wow. A couple years ago we would have looked at this from a very different angle, but we now know that this is Bellator’s style. They like the pro-wrestling type reputation that’s stuck to them, and hey, they are making headlines on a regular basis. Forget the fact it’s because two grown men nearly exposed their testicles to prove they don’t have baby nuts, media attention is media attention, right?
With yet another massive night coming up tomorrow (Friday February 19, 2016) Bellator will likely overshadow the rest of the weekend’s mainstream MMA action, so be prepared for some shady fight highlights, weird confrontations, hilarious quotes and just all round awesome/circus MMA action courtesy of Scott Coker’s steam powered merry-go-round.
