UFC on FUEL TV 9: Will Matt Mitrione get cut with a loss to Phil De Fries in Sweden?

You can't talk about this weekend's UFC on FUEL TV 9 event without mentioning cuts.

Right, Alex?

While Matt Mitrione, who fights Philip De Fries this Saturday at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, isn't getting his face glued back together, he still has to worry about the promotion cutting its umbilical cord, which is now loosely attached to The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 grad after dropping two straight.

"Meathead" speaks to Bleacher Report:

"Oh, for sure there is pressure and my head is definitely on the chopping block here. I don't know if it will get cut off or not, or the UFC will pull a Dan Hardy and keep me around, but if I lose then I'm definitely subject to being cut. And I acknowledge that. Honestly, it doesn't really affect me because in the UFC you can have one bad fight and get axed out. That is not any additional pressure but it is a realization that I could get cut if I lose. I pride myself with being as honest with myself as possible, and this is a situation where there definitely is peril if I lose this fight. But I'm not going to lose, so I'm not worried about it. There are some things I look forward to, and this fight is definitely one of them. My head is on the chopping block, there is a little bit of pressure on externally, and let's go out there and see what I got. Let's go out there and see what happens, baby. I'm no spring chicken and everybody knows that. I started late in the game and I've been in the UFC for three and a half years now; it's time for me to do something. I have seven fights under my belt and it's sink or swim now. It's sh** or get off the pot. It's go time right now and either I do it or I don't."

Click here to find out what has him spooked.

Mitrione (5-2) stepped up on short notice to replace the injured Shane Carwin against Nelson at last year's TUF 16 finale, but was pounded out by "Big Country" in the opening frame, marking his second consecutive defeat after going down to Cheick Kongo on points in late 2011.

The 34-year-old Heavyweight has racked up all five of his professional victories under the UFC banner; however, all five of his victories have come over fighters who are no longer employed with ZUFFA. That means, as he so eloquently put, it's time to shit or get off the pot."

Or risk getting flushed.