Two dangerous heavyweights collided yesterday (April 6, 2013) as Matt Mitrione took on Philip De Fries on the UFC on Fuel TV 9 main card in Stockholm, Sweden.
Both men were trying to end recent losing skids and many thought the fight was not doing to last very long.
They thought right.
Mitrione looked to take control of the cage center, utilizing his athleticism on the outside and De Fries immediately dove at his legs from the outside with a takedown attempt, but was easily shrugged off because "Meathead" was far enough away to dodge.
The next time De Fries shot in for a takedown he was not so lucky, getting clipped by a right hook on the way in and crashing into Mitrione's lower body. Mitrione held his ground and steamrolled him, following his dazed opponent to the canvas and unloading a huge flurry of punches on the ground until De Fries was unconscious.
The whole exchange lasted just 19 seconds, with Mitrione reigning supreme.
For Philip De Fries, you can't fault him for what he was trying to do. He knew that standing with Mitrione was a bad idea and didn't even try to stand and trade for even a second, shooting in immediately with a takedown attempt. That being said, he probably should have tried to at least set up the takedown first with a couple punches which could have made it less telegraphed. Mitrione was able to easily avoid the attempts and when he telegraphed his next takedown, he got clipped and finished.
Unfortunately, De Fries now holds a 2-3 record in UFC and has lost all three of his bouts via first round knockout. He'll likely not be sticking around inside the promotion after this defeat.
For Matt Mitrione, this was exactly the type of performance he needed to have. In just 19 seconds, he was able to stop two takedown attempts, showcase proper use of range on the feet and land a stiff counter shot when his opponent rushed in haphazardly. His killer instincts were phenomenal as he pounced on the dazed De Fries and finished him practically by the time he'd crashed onto the ground. This was exactly the type of performance that had fans hyping Mitrione up as a prospect to look out for in the heavyweight division.
Next up for "Meathead" could be a variety of heavyweights ranging from Todd Duffee to Shawn Jordan to Brendan Schaub.
For complete UFC on Fuel TV 9 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.
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