ESPN Mixed Martial Arts

NEW YORK -- The decision to lift heavyweight Matt Mitrione’s suspension in less than three weeks has raised many eyebrows, so promotion president Dana White didn’t hesitate to answer questions Thursday about the matter during UFC 159 media day at Madison Square Garden.

“They [fighters] can be suspended for as long as we want them to be,” White said. “He was suspended for three weeks, but what does that really mean?

“In other sports a suspension means you lose games. He’s not fighting right now anyway. We didn’t suspend him for three fights, two fights. He was fined and put on suspension.

“Suspension meant we were going to look into this thing; we were going to talk to him.”

White then made it clear he agrees with Mitrione that transgender female mixed martial artist Fallon Fox should not be allowed to fight women. White doesn’t, however, embrace the harsh wording Mitrione used to make his point.

And White won’t force Mitrione to apologize.

“You can’t make somebody apologize,” White said. “If I have to make him do it, it’s not real. He’s not really apologizing.

“If that’s his opinion on the situation: He doesn’t like that somebody who used to be a man and became a woman can fight other women. I don’t disagree with him on that. I don’t disagree."

Jones comfortable being himself these days

The past year has been quite memorable for light heavyweight champion Jon Jones: He was labeled "fake" by former friend and sparring partner Rashad Evans before their title bout, had his faith in Christ questioned and got a DWI conviction.

Jones revisited those experiences and concluded that trying to be what others expect of him is a losing battle. So Jones has decided to just be himself.

“I was pretending a lot to be the perfect person, to be super articulate when I’m talking,” Jones said. “I tried to be clean-cut and clean-shaven, be the perfect guy to be sponsored by Nike. And be the perfect, perfect poster boy for UFC.

“Now that I’ve had that whole situation happen to me I’m totally free. I can say what I want; I can be who I want. I’m still trying to be a good person and a good role model. But I’m doing it a little more authentically now.

“And it feels good. It feels good to just be me.”

Bisping learns with age, mistakes

Michael Bisping has a bad habit of coming up short in title eliminators. But it's Bisping's most recent setback, when a title shot was not on the line, that forced him to take a serious look at his approach to being a professional fighter.

Bisping still has images of fighting for the middleweight title and knows that he can no longer allow his weight to become an issue.

“You have to learn from your mistakes,” Bisping said. “You have to be honest with yourself. And there were things I was doing wrong between fights. I was putting on too much weight.

“I’m 34 now, the weight is harder to lose. I’m a professional sportsman, I got away with it in the past, but you’ve got to treat your body with the respect it deserves, especially in this sport.”

Nelson poised for a crack at the title?

Roy Nelson is a top-10 ranked heavyweight, but his name doesn’t come up in title conversations. He believes the timing is right to change that with a win Saturday night over Cheick Kongo.

“It really comes down to the fans,” Nelson said. “And it’s about the timing. After UFC 160, which is only a month [following UFC 159], I could definitely get a title shot.

“They’re talking about Hunt fighting for a title after he knocked out Struve, and I knocked out Struve a little bit easier.”

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cover your ears, Johny Hendricks.

UFC president Dana White told reporters on Thursday he’ll talk to welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre soon. The two haven’t spoken since St-Pierre recorded his eighth consecutive title defense over Nick Diaz at UFC 158 last month.

Expectations have been that St-Pierre (24-4) would face Hendricks (15-1) later this year, but White said that bout would go on hold should St-Pierre express interest in a long-anticipated, lucrative superfight with middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

“I am literally going to call Georges St-Pierre today and see what he wants to do,” White said.

“If Georges says to me, ‘I want to fight Anderson Silva,’ you think I’m going to go, ‘No, you’re not. You’re fighting Johny Hendricks’?”

Silva (33-4) is scheduled to defend his 185-pound title against Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in July. In yet another superfight wrinkle, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 next week in Newark.

White said he’s interested in any fight that involves two of the three champions, saying if both St-Pierre and Jones wanted Silva, “that’s a good problem to have.”

Hendricks would be the clear loser if St-Pierre opts to fight Silva next. The former collegiate wrestler is on a six-fight win streak and was already leapfrogged earlier this year by Diaz, who was coming off a drug suspension.

White said St-Pierre would not vacate the 170-pound title if he took the Silva fight, meaning Hendricks would have to wait or accept another fight.

“If [St-Pierre] lost, he could still go back down and fight Hendricks for the title.”

Mitrione fined, suspended -- but forgiven

UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione has been fined an undisclosed amount and remains suspended for comments made last week regarding transgender fighter Fallon Fox.

The UFC quickly suspended Mitrione following an appearance on “The MMA Hour,” where he referred to Fox as a “freak.” Fox is scheduled for her third pro fight in May.

Mitrione (6-2), who defeated Philip De Fries via first-round knockout earlier this month, spoke with UFC president Dana White following the incident and took responsibility for his actions -- but there is no timetable for his return.

“It’s up to us,” White said regarding Mitrione’s suspension. “I’m not mad at Mitrione. He did something stupid. He knows he didn’t handle it the right way.

“I’m sure he wants to know [when he’ll fight again]. We’ll let him know when we decide. He was fined, too. Enough to make him call me three times.”

• A Brazilian fan attacked UFC light heavyweight Chael Sonnen during an event last weekend in Las Vegas, according to White.

Sonnen, who challenges Jon Jones for the 205-pound title next week at UFC 159, was in Las Vegas to attend "The Ultimate Fighter" finale at Mandalay Bay Events Center. According to White, he was involved in a minor scuffle during the show.

“I don’t know if any of you guys saw this, but he was there shaking hands with fans and one guy says, ‘Chael! Chael!” White said. “Chael goes over there and the guy started swinging at him, trying to punch him. The guy goes, ‘I’m from Brazil!'”

Sonnen (27-12-1) was involved in a heated rivalry with Brazilian middleweight champ Anderson Silva from 2010 to 2012. He went 0-2 in two fights against him.

• Whether his teammate claims the UFC lightweight title on Saturday or not, Nate Diaz says he’s moving back to 170 pounds.

Diaz (16-8) meets lightweight Josh Thomson on Saturday. His teammate, Gilbert Melendez, will look to dethrone champion Ben Henderson in the night’s main event.

Regardless of the outcome of either fight, Diaz says he intends to move back to welterweight, where he compiled a 2-2 record from 2010 to 2011.

“I already fought everybody at lightweight,” Diaz said. “I don’t think there is anything for me in the lightweight division. I already beat everybody or fought everybody. The only person who beat me was Ben. What, I’m going to sit around and fight all the same guys again? That’s boring. There’s no motivation in that.”

• Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier still wants to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones -- just maybe not as soon as he once thought.

Cormier (11-1) faces arguably the biggest challenge of his career on Saturday as he takes on former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the night’s co-main event.

The former U.S. Olympic wrestler has been quietly shedding weight for a potential trip to the 205-pound division. Cormier’s teammate, Cain Velasquez, currently holds the UFC heavyweight title.

Cormier has publicly expressed interest in fighting Jones previously, but now says he’d probably want a test fight at 205 pounds first. The 34-year-old experienced kidney failure while cutting weight in 2008 but is confident he can make 205.

“At first, I was so emotionally tied to [fighting Jones],” Cormier said. “I’ve thought about it, and I wouldn’t be opposed to fighting one time down there just to see how my body reacts to the weight cut. It would be very difficult to fight him in my first fight, a five-round fight.

“What if I get in a fight and I can’t do anything but wrestle because my arms are tired and my body isn’t responding to the weight cut? I don’t want that guy to be Jon Jones. Seriously, can you imagine standing in with him and not feeling your best?”

From the outside looking in, it’s difficult to imagine why heavyweight Matt Mitrione would approach UFC officials and ask to fight hard-hitting Roy Nelson.

Mitrione (5-1) has not fought in more than a year and he has undergone three surgeries during that span. Making matters more peculiar, Mitrione was on the short end of a unanimous decision when he last stepped in the Octagon (Cheick Kongo handed Mitrione his first professional loss on Oct. 29, 2011).

But Mitrione brushed all of these things aside when he got word that former interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin had suffered a knee injury that forced him out of "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 16 Finale against Nelson on Dec. 15.

Mitrione’s request seems more peculiar when you factor in that he already had a Dec. 29 bout slated with Phil DeFries at UFC 159.

After a long layoff and surgeries to repair several injuries -- sports hernia, bone chips in an elbow and another that he still prefers not to disclose -- Mitrione couldn’t be more excited and ready to face Nelson on Saturday night.

“I’m champing at the bit,” the 34-year-old Mitrione told ESPN.com. “I’ve been out for a while and have had three surgeries in the past year.

“I’m ready. My body has healed up; I’m no spring chicken. Let’s get to dancing.”

A source of Mitrione’s excitement is the quality of sparring he received in training camp. Every day he’d have to go hard against former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort at the Blackzilians gym in Boca Raton, Fla. And when those two were finished taking their pound of flesh, Mitrione would attempt to hold off former Strikeforce heavyweight titleholder Alistair Overeem.

Rarely did Mitrione get the better of his more-seasoned sparring partners. And he isn’t shy to say that those guys spent an overwhelming majority of the sparring sessions roughing him up.

“The amount of work that I’ve put in and the amount of ass-beatings that I’ve taken in camp have made me better,” Mitrione said. “I’m confident in my abilities and I’m confident in my mental fortitude to weather a storm.

“I’ve been weathering storms in camp since I got down here.”

But don’t confuse Mitrione’s admission of being roughed up in camp as a sign that he served as the resident punching bag. Every time a punch landed in his midsection, or he was taken to the ground or a kick connected with his lead leg, Mitrione learned from his mistakes. By the end of training camp, he was the victim of very few punches, kicks or takedowns.

He was also dishing out his share of punishment.

“

I came in there to fight but Kongo didn't really want to engage. And I was too green to know how to force that fight.

” -- Matt Mitrione, on why he lost to Cheick Kongo

Mitrione is extremely confident he will look nothing like the guy who fought Kongo last year. And while he believes the fight should have been scored in his favor, Mitrione has a better understanding of what he could have done to sway the judges.

“I came in there to fight but Kongo didn’t really want to engage,” Mitrione said. “And I was too green to know how to force that fight. In my opinion, I should have won the first two rounds via control and aggression, but I didn’t get it and lost by decision. But one thing is for sure, Cheick didn’t beat me. Even if I’d won that fight, after having three surgeries I’d still be in the same boat I’m in right now.”

For Mitrione, facing Nelson is a great way to learn just where he fits in the UFC heavyweight landscape. Beating Nelson (17-7) could earn him consideration for a place among the division’s top 10.

Physical improvement is not the lone source of Mitrione’s positive prefight attitude. The heavy-handed heavyweight is stress-free these days. The yearlong layoff has allowed Mitrione, the father of three, to spend much-needed quality time with his children.

“I’m sure that everybody who is a professional competitor who travels a lot and has children knows exactly where I’m coming from,” Mitrione said. “I’m sure they can imagine it.

“There’s a lot of stress involved. There’s a level of guilt that you have if you’re a concerned parent when you’re not around your children.

“My 2-year-old daughter, Gia, was calling the phone daddy. That’s a lot to deal with. I was off for so long that I got to spend time with my kids again. I got back into the fold and it put my mind back in a good place.”

Matt Mitrione has told the UFC he will happily welcome Jon Jones to the heavyweight division, if the reigning light heavyweight champion decides to make the move up a level. More »

On Saturday, Kimbo Slice participated in his fourth professional boxing match. The fight took place in Springfield, Mo., where one of the world’s most trafficked Bass Pro Shops sits gloriously in the heart of the city.

I mention this only to point out what Kimbo was up against in vying for the local dollar. Largemouth fishing is, after all, beginning to heat up on Table Rock Lake.

Did his opponent, veteran mixed martial artist Brian Green, take a dive?

Maybe. I’m no expert in thespian matters. What is plain, though, is that the whole thing looked a little dicey.

When somebody in Green’s corner yelled that 15 seconds of fighting remained, Green did what all fighters on the cusp of winning a fight with a high profile novelty do -- he dropped his hands and made his chin open for business. And then he crumbled almost comically after taking a short left uppercut thrown from the holster of fatigue. With three seconds left on the clock, Green was on his back. He did not scramble for his marbles on the floor, nor did he try and get up at all. He lay there in a conscious-looking state, taking his count while suspicious glances were exchanged by onlookers. And later on, by those curious enough to Google this camcorder affair.

Fixed? Who knows. The thing didn't look entirely sincere. But maybe the better question would be: is there anything appealing left in watching Kimbo fight? He shouldn’t have had to come back and beat a journeyman like Green dramatically, should he?

At this point, Slice, the one-time sideshow phenom from the back alleys of Miami, is an off-Broadway production performing on the bootleg circuit that requires search engines to find. At his best, he was only good in bare-knuckle situations against bouncers and area tough guys. He looked imposing in a tank top, and somebody (as in, Dana White) once very accurately summed him up as “the toughest man at the barbecue.” That’s true. But he’s not the toughest man in the prize ring, where tough guys are all you find.

Now, Kimbo is 38 and mostly debunked, yet we still glance at him when we can. We are voyeurs, after all.

As for Kimbo? He’s raking in what money can still be found in the twilight of an unconventional career.

We know that EliteXC pushed a pile of cash behind his myth when he was a “YouTube sensation” that was to be converted into a civilized cage fighter. We know, too, that the promotion wouldn’t have minded if Seth Petruzelli, a late fill-in for Ken Shamrock the night the myth shattered on national television, had eased up a little bit. (Maybe the matchmakers should have went with Aaron Rosa, the other option that night to step in with Slice).

Either way, the careful foundation the promotion built on a gold-toothed street brawler took 14 seconds to become a house of cards. Which didn’t end anything other than EliteXC (that iteration of the promotion, anyway). As for Slice? The next thing you know, he was breaking Nielsen records trying to make it into the UFC on the “Ultimate Fighter 10.” He got licked by Roy Nelson early in the season -- in front of millions. Then he put on an eyesore of a fight against Houston Alexander in his official UFC debut when everybody expected free-swinging menace.

Except for maybe his beatdown of Tank Abbott in 2008 -- and possibly the ear-popping bout with James Thompson three months later -- Slice has never lived up to expectations outside the alley. The end of his MMA career came via a second-round TKO to Matt Mitrione.

Only it didn’t spell the end of Slice. He boxes now for whatever shaky camcorders are on hand to catch the action. In this way, he’s come full circle. Only now, he’s doing it in the prizefighting ring, where gloves are worn and shadiness has an ounce of scrutiny. His relevancy depends on your taste, but he banks on the power of his fetish market.

And even before Saturday's funny-looking knockout of Green, you have to think that it's Kimbo who needs what’s left of the sideshow connoisseurs more than they need him.

Before Matt Mitrione fought Cheick Kongo, there were directional advisories. Mitrione said he was going to come forward and put Kongo on his heels, even though Kongo is traditionally the one doing the advancing. Kongo warned that he would not be made to back peddle.

Storm clouds.

What we had was a potentially explosive impasse, where the two would collide in the middle of the cage and one would drop trailing a line of zzz’s. If only things had worked out that way.

It ended up being an anticlimactic co-main event -- instead of a coming-out party for Mitrione -- where both guys struggled to open up. It was the previously unbeaten Mitrione who ultimately went backwards with the loss, while Kongo came forward with the usual smoke and mirror suspicions. The thing that refused to budge in all of this was the UFC’s heavyweight division. It remains exactly as it was -- that is, bottom heavy.

This has been the way things go of late. Prospects like Mitrione can’t get over the last hurdles to heavyweight contention, and the gulf widens between the rarified top -- Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem -- and the rock-paper-scissors middle, which is everybody else. The everybody else boils down to the round robin being played between Roy Nelson, Frank Mir and the now-retired Mirko Filipovic. Shane Carwin was there, but he’s now shelved until 2012 after another surgery (and he’ll be 37 when he does come back, riding a two-fight losing streak).

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira needs a time machine. Stefan Struve and Pat Barry, the technology to morph.

That’s why we’re raising our eyebrows at what Travis Browne might do and building Stipe Miocic into a Cleveland State chimera. There aren’t a lot of threats waiting in the wings behind those big four on Zuffa’s varsity roster. Strikeforce’s Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier are out there, but they are off-limits currently (mostly), with Dana White now on fraternity terms with Showtime to negotiate a deal. Had Mitrione walked right through Kongo, we’d have at least that guy bleeping on the radar beneath the others, a sort of Donald Cerrone for the heavyweight class. An undeniable.

But Mitrione was the latest to lose his bearings, and there isn’t really another someone right now behind him.

As the heavyweight division showcases on network TV in a couple of weeks, with a huge bout between Dos Santos and Velasquez, we’ll be watching the undisputed best in the class. Then there’s Overeem and Lesnar, each of whom have their question marks. They are the definitive next best. After that, it’s a little murky. If Mir loses to Big Nog at UFC 140, it gets a little more murky. Whatever’s compelling beyond that is hard to find.

And it might stay that way until the Strikeforce guys are brought in, or Jon Jones cleans out the light heavyweight division, both of which could happen -- or be made to happen -- sooner than we think.

LAS VEGAS -- You’ll have to forgive some of those in attendance at the UFC 137 prefight media conference on Thursday if they couldn’t quite get over the fact that Nick Diaz was there, too.

Diaz’s recent media engagements have been so erratic and unpredictable leading up to this event that just showing up for this one -- and showing up on time -- seemed remarkable.

Enough so that even Diaz, at times, appeared to be in on the joke.

“They did bring me down an hour early,” he said, when asked if the UFC or his team had to take any special precautions to keep him from missing the media conference. “I don't know if that was a change of plans or if that was on account of me.”

It's been less than two months since Diaz got bounced from a scheduled welterweight title fight against Georges St. Pierre after no-showing a pair of advance PR events. He presumably got a stern talking-to from UFC President Dana White on the matter and now, after being booked back in the main event against B.J. Penn on this Saturday’s card, his handlers said he’s learned his lesson.

“We had a talk about fighting in the UFC now and doing press and everything like that,” said Diaz, who also showed up some 45 minutes late for last week’s conference call. “I said my only problem with doing press is that it takes time away from my training. I train harder than most athletes out here ... and [doing press] really throws me off my week, which throws my whole month off; and that’s a big deal to me.”

In truth, most of the answers Diaz gave at Thursday’s media conference were an improvement on his past performances, but questions about his distaste for media kept coming. Finally, White had heard enough.

“He’s here, guys,” the exasperated UFC president said. “If you want to ask him about the fight, he’s here. He’s here today, it’s over and I can tell you from what I’ve heard from my crew here, he’s done everything that he’s supposed to do.”

White sees surprising likeness in Penn and Diaz

Both Diaz and Penn are talented jiu-jitsu fighters who love to box. While Diaz typically opts for a high volume, high-octane striking attack, Penn will likely have the edge in power if their main event fight stays on the feet.

If it goes to the ground? That could be anybody’s best guess, as they might be that comparable in skill.

However, when asked on Thursday if he saw any similarities between the two welterweights, White singled out a far more, uh, intangible quality shared by both Diaz and Penn.

“The similarity between these guys is they’re both crazy,” White said. “I love this fight.”

New life for Strikeforce?

The largely condemned fight company may have gotten its metaphorical 11th-hour reprieve recently when Ken Hershman, Showtime’s former head of sports programming, left for HBO. With Hershman and his notoriously rocky relationship with White now out of the way, the UFC president said on Thursday that he’s abandoned his hands-off approach and is knee deep in negotiations to get Strikeforce a new deal with the premium channel for next year.

White said he was in New York on Wednesday meeting with Showtime officials and -- maybe for the first time ever -- sounded relatively upbeat about the possibility that Strikeforce might stick around beyond the new year. White said an announcement could come as early as the end of this week.

"I had a great meeting with them," White said. "We'll see how it goes. I met with all of them, the whole crew. It went very well, and we'll see how it progresses."

Mitrione wants to race

Matt Mitrione moved his claim of being perhaps the UFC’s quickest, most athletic heavyweight to the next level recently, as he took to his official Twitter account offering to take on any of the company’s current champions in a footrace. On Thursday he did not back down from that challenge, even widening it a bit to include at least one very athletic former champion.

“I feel that I can beat anybody that has a belt [in the UFC] in a 40-yard dash, maybe even 100,” Mitrione said. “I’m going to challenge Urijah Faber to a timed mile sooner or later. I don’t know if I can beat him, but I’m sure as hell going to give it a shot.”

Cro-Cop looking for payback from Barry

The viral video sensation showing Mirko Filipovic and fellow UFC heavyweight Pat Barry singing along with “California Dreaming” while on a recent road trip apparently didn't get cleared by Cro-Cop before its release to the public.

Asked if the emergence of the video was a sign that Cro-Cop was letting his hair down a bit as he approaches the end of his MMA career, the fighter made it sound as if he didn’t expect that video to find its way to the Internet and joked (we hope) that he’ll have a score to settle when next he meets up with Barry.

“If you ask me if I am planning a singing career, no, that’s not true,” Cro-Cop said. “Pat Barry sold me [out] because he released it on YouTube, and I will kick his a-- the first time I see him.”

Heavyweights Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitrione have not stepped in the Octagon since June 26, when each won in Pittsburgh.

Mitrione waltzed through a sloppy Christian Morecraft, an unremarkable tough guy, before punching out a finish in the second round. Kongo, you remember, orchestrated (with Pat Barry) one of the most memorable half-rounds ever. Seared in the collective consciousness of MMA fans are images of Kongo, surviving on instinct as Barry assaulted him, scoring a jarring end with a flush combination.

Although the arcs of their victories that night were as different as it gets, the results nonetheless led UFC matchmaker Joe Silva to put together this fight for Saturday's pay-per-view portion of UFC 137 in Las Vegas -- one Mitrione believes will be a "test” of where he stands.

Mitrione, 33, formerly of the NFL's New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings, is correct. Entering his sixth professional mixed martial arts contest since turning pro in 2009, the fast-talker is up against his most difficult opponent yet.

"I've fought middle to bottom end of the talent -- not to rip on the people I've fought -- and I've done well against them. Now it's time to fight somebody that's worth his salt," Mitrione said of Kongo. "He's proven he's worth his salt time and time again. He always comes to scrap. He's always in great shape, and he brings it."

Kongo, 36, excelled against the kind of competition Mitrione has feasted on. When asked to step up, though, he's produced mixed results. In all, the chiseled Frenchman is 9-4-1 since joining the UFC in 2006. It's impossible to say where Mitrione slots on Kongo's list of opponents, which range from Cain Velasquez to Mostapha al-Turk, until they meet this weekend.

For his part, Mitrione said he's swimming upstream in this one. When the UFC offered him the bout, he asked for the latest open date to have more time to continue honing his skills as he makes the transition from pro football player to fighter.

"I need to really play catch-up on the fly," Mitrione said. "UFC has been good with me on that."

Kongo (16-6-2 overall) understands what that's like. Five years ago he wasn't much of a wrestler, and it didn't take long before he found himself exposed against a middle-of-the-road grappler like Carmelo Marrero. In time, the strong kickboxer improved his takedown defense and actually began formulating and implementing ground-based game plans.

This kind of progression will come for Mitrione, and he acknowledges that: "I try to take it into consideration and take it all in stride that things Cheick was good at four years ago, I haven't learned yet or I'm just starting to learn.”

For now, Mitrione's athleticism has allowed for a quick development in the striking department, which through five contests has rendered four finishes. Working with the likes of Ray Sefo, Randy Couture and Neil Melanson at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and for this camp Rashad Evans and Tyrone Spong in Florida, Mitrione says he's prepared for the step up. Or at least he thinks he is.

A victory over Kongo would make three wins for Mitrione in 2011, sending a clear signal that his transition from defensive tackle to MMA fighter is further along than some might have thought.

It won’t be easy, of course. Nothing against Kongo ever is. The Frenchman has business to conduct, and Thursday he said he wishes to have his “path in the right way.” Presumably that leads to the top of the division, where perhaps now he’s equipped to compete. That also could deliver Kongo a spot on the UFC’s debut card in his home country, a scenario nearly realized because UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta is close to locking down a date and venue in France.

"If Cheick beats me, he beat the best possible product I can give him," Mitrione said. "Good for him. He was a better man that night."

Such was the case when Brendan Schaub, a similar football convert, stepped it up and went after a veteran heavyweight in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Is Mitrione ready for the next step? He’ll find out like the rest of us.

The UFC's signing of former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem swelled the total number of ready-made heavyweight contenders to right around three. After Cain Velasquez, there’s Junior dos Santos, Brock Lesnar and The Reem. It doesn’t help that the last two have question marks; one for health reasons, the other for being a smoke and mirrors fighter (allegedly).

After those names? It’s a dark, dark hall. In fact, only Frank Mir’s candle flickers at the end of it, and even that seems dangerously close to blowing out.

That’s why it hurts when guys being groomed like Brendan Schaub fail to get by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, or when Travis Browne registers a yeomen’s decision over Rob Broughton when a statement is needed, or when Dave Herman gets stricken from a card for coming up positive for illegal substances. Contenders are hard to come by in the heavyweight division right now.

Think about who’s out there -- Pat Barry, Cheick Kongo, Stefan Struve, Mike Russow, Shane Carwin, Roy Nelson, Big Nog. None of those guys are realistically close. Heath Herring is the most inactive fighter to ever exist on an active roster. Mark Hunt gets discussed for being salvaged from the garbage heap, but he’s not a threat to contend. Carwin was right there, but he’ll be 37 in January and has suffered two losses in a row. Who knows how much he has left. Ditto Nogueira, who has maybe two fights left in him. And that’s a generous maybe.

Which brings things around to Matt Mitrione. It points to the state of things that he looks like the lone buzz fighter coming up in the heavyweight division -- but the man has five total fights, with a casualty list that includes names like Kimbo Slice, Tim Hague and Joey Beltran. Besides, he’s the first to downplay himself as an actual contender.

Should he get by Kongo, Mitrione at least enters the picture frame. Should he lose? There’s going to be a major round robin between the top four guys in the division until reinforcements arrive.

Once the UFC begins bringing over more of the Strikeforce lot -- guys like Josh Barnett, Daniel Cormier, Antonio Silva -- it’ll deepen. But at the moment there aren’t a lot of heavyweights in the current pool making a big enough splash. In fact, Stipe Miocic looks a little like company gold right about now, which says it all for the prospects.

Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitrione both recorded spectacular finishes at UFC Live 4 on Saturday in Pittsburgh, as Kongo flattened Patrick Barry in an unlikely comeback and Mitrione knocked out Christian Morecraft in a one-sided drubbing. Could they now find themselves on a collision course with one another? More »

LAS VEGAS – With the looming NFL lockout, there’s been a lot of speculation as to whether football fans might migrate a little toward MMA. So I asked former New York Giant and Minnesota Viking defensive tackle Matt Mitrione, who is spending time in Las Vegas in preparation for his upcoming heavyweight fight with Christian Morecraft on June 26 in Pittsburgh, if he saw it as an opportunity for crossover potential and, moreover, if he thought any of the players themselves might jump ship as he did and try their hand at the fight game.

“Yeah, I think that this will be good for MMA for sure,” he said. “As for the other thing, honestly man, it really depends a lot on the individual players themselves. The biggest part for NFL or football guys coming into MMA is whether they can handle getting their a-- beaten in the gym and in front of 7,000 people. If you can handle that, you got to be pretty good. Athletically, I think they’re in a different league than most MMA fighters right now. If you can handle that stuff ego-wise, you’ll be alright.”

Mitrione is 4-0 in his mixed martial arts career, and he chalks part of that up to possessing something most rational people (and even NFL players) don’t have -- that is, zero reservations about being punched in the face.

“I believe I am one of those guys,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s strong neck, and you get a strong neck playing football, or if it’s an ego thing like, ‘screw it, he got one off.’ I’m still figuring that out. It’s something I think about on a regular basis, though.”