Matt Mitrione willing to fight again tonight
Matt Mitrione was headlining Bellator 215 against Sergei Kharitonov in what should have helped shape up a contender for the heavyweight division. Well, the fight did not go as planned as Mitrione threw a kick and as Kharitonov was switching levels, the kick got him on the cup and Kharitonov immediately fell to the ground.
There was no question Kharitonov was in immediate pain and couldn’t continue. The official result was a no-contest just 15 seconds into the fight. At the post-fight press conference, Mitrione was very apologetic to Kharitonov and was willing to run it back, and if he is healthy willing to run it back at Bellator 216. Or, if a heavyweight can’t compete tonight, Mitrione is more than willing to step in.
“It just sucks, man,” Mitrione told MMAjunkie after the fight. “… Mr. Coker and I were already talking about some stuff. I have to get in Mr. (Bellator matchmaker Rich) Chou’s ear and see what I can get on. If it’s all booked out, maybe they can bump somebody. I know there’s a card in Chicago (in May), and I live in the Midwest. I’ll bring a gang of people there and we’ll act straight foolish in there if we can get a fight in Chicago.”
Ultimately, the hope is Kharitonov is healthy and they can run it back soon. The fight should have been a good one with both of them standing up and making it a striking match. In the end, that is far from what happened so Mitrione wants to show the fans what the fight could have been.
“If Sergei is down to go, if he can do it, if his body’s good – hopefully he didn’t rupture a (testicle) – but if he can do it again, then obviously I’m 100 percent down,” Mitrione said. “He’s the only person I really want to fight in this situation because everybody, I think, deserves that. It would’ve been a great fight and a lot of fun. It just sucks, man.”
No matter what, Mitrione did not do it on purpose and was extremely apologetic following the fight.
“I cannot begin to explain how sorry I am for everybody that paid to come to the fight to watch that fight between Sergei and I. It would’ve been really dope – it would’ve been a great fight. Obviously, it was not intentional – the worst possible situation.
“Sergei: I’m genuinely sorry. I’m apologetic as I could possibly be.”
