Matt Mitrione has a name that is becoming more well known in the UFC Heavyweight division following his impressive first round knockout of Tim Hague this past weekend at the UFC: Fight for the Troops 2 event.
The rising heavyweight fighter spoke in an interview post-fight and added what he felt he needed to do in order to continue his way up the ladder to success in the UFC for the future:
“I was a little bit more sluggish than I wanted to be starting out. I warmed up a little bit too early and kind of cooled off a little bit. I think it was just learning to fight a little bit late, it was a little new for me.”
“I could tell (Tim Hague) didn’t really like getting punched at all, and it kind of bothered him. So I just wanted to be patient and make him think about his legs a little bit more and then …I didn’t think it was going to happen that fast, but I knew it was going to happen.”
“I want to get tested, but no, it doesn’t make me think I’m further along. I need to test my ground game. I still don’t know how well I do in a fight versus how well I do in practice. So no, I’m where I think I am. I need to get into a fight where I have to test my ground game, to see how good it is and how well I can handle myself.”
“That was a rowdy crowd, bro. It was awesome man, a good time and you could hear every time I punched …I think the crowd kind of favored me and the USA chants. It was dope bro, it was awesome.”
