Matt Mitrione

Matt 'Meathead' Mitrione is the perfect example of an athlete reinventing himself. Going from NFL defensive line to a real heavyweight knockout artist is no small leap, and he made it look natural thanks to scary power in those hands. His Bellator run, especially the wild win over Fedor Emelianenko where they nearly knocked each other out simultaneously, was one of the most chaotic heavyweight moments I've seen. He was never the most technical guy, but he was must-watch because every fight could end in a flash. Charismatic on the mic too, which kept him fun outside the cage.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Matt Mitrione (born July 15, 1978) is an American retired mixed martial artist and former professional football player. A defensive lineman at Purdue University, he played in the NFL with the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings before transitioning to MMA, where he first gained prominence on The Ultimate Fighter. He competed as a heavyweight in the UFC and later in Bellator MMA, becoming known for his knockout power.

Name (English)

Matt Mitrione

Name (Japanese)

マット・ミトリオン

Reading

まっと・みとりおん

Born

July 15, 1978 (age 48)

Origin

Springfield, Illinois, United States

Height

191cm

Occupation

American football player / Mixed martial artist / Karateka

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Cancer / Horse

University

Purdue University

• Official sitehttp://mattmitrione.com/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/mattmitrione/
• Xhttps://x.com/mattmitrione
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt%20Mitrione
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9F%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%B3
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q859780

Tags

• From Illinois
• American football player
• Mixed martial artist
• Karateka

Last updated

November 2, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.