photo courtesy of Hector Castro/MMADieHards.com

Say what you want about Matt Mitrione, but understand the man certainly has conviction.

Maybe it is because of his background as a football player or maybe it’s just his personality, but his fight plan isn’t about stopping what his opponent does nearly as much as it’s centered on the heavyweight imposing his will on anyone that stands across from him.

“It doesn’t matter what the other guy does, it matters what I do and it’s up to me to enforce that,” Mitrione explained to Joe Rizzo and Jeremy Fullerton during his appearance on Rear Naked Choke on the MMA Diehards Radio Network.

“I’ll watch film to see what a guy does just so I can set him up and make him fall for what I want to do. That’s really it. I don’t care what he does and how he does it because he’s going to fall victim to what I want him to. That’s the way it’s going to be every time.”

Mitrione will look to force the action once gain this Saturday when he steps into the most high-profile fight slot of his young career at UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2. He will take on Canadian Tim Hague in the second to last bout as part of a stacked card for the military personnel at Fort Hood outside of Killeen, Texas. The undefeated Mitrione (3-0) is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Joey Beltran at UFC 119 that earned him Fight of the Night honors. He’ll try to move up the ranks in a deep heavyweight division by taking out the more experienced Hague.

Mitrione is a newcomer to mixed martial arts, but has risen fast in the UFC thanks to a charismatic personality and an ever-expanding repertoire. The former defensive tackle was an All-Big 10 selection during his senior year at Purdue University and made it to the NFL as an undrafted free agent. He spent four seasons with the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings before stepping away from the game in 2006. He entered the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter with no professional fighting experience, and despite being eliminated in the quarterfinals, was granted a spot in the season’s finale against fellow cast member Marcus Jones. Mitrione won his MMA debut via a second-round knockout, and followed that win up with a TKO of Kimbo Slice at UFC 113 and a victory over Beltran.

Hague, meanwhile, is a veteran of 16 fights who will be in his third stint with the UFC. Hague was cut from the promotion following three straight losses to Todd Duffee, Chris Tuchscherer and Joey Beltran, but was brought back after consecutive knockouts of Travis Wiuff and TUF 10 competitor Zak Jensen in his home province of Alberta. Notable among Hague’s 12 victories is a submission win over Pat Barry, a training partner of Mitrione, at UFC 98 in May of 2009. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, Hague has heavy hands and is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt, a combination which Mitrione knows can present a problem for him if he’s not careful.

“Honestly, I think the Tim Hague fight has (Fight of the Night) potential,” Mitrione said. “Tim is much better than what he gets credit for. He’s a huge body, and, contrary to what people think, there aren’t many 290-pound men that can give and take a punch and hold a jiu-jitsu game like he does. He has so much power – he primarily throws a lot of hooks, and overhand right and jabs – and if one of those three punches lands you’re going to know it. He has a good knee, a good Thai clinch; he’s a tough dude.”

Even though Mitrione has significantly less experience when compared to Hague, he feels one of his biggest assets is his ability to absorb information at a fast rate. He trains at Roufusport Martial Arts in Milwaukee under legendary kickboxer Duke Roufus and alongside the likes of Barry, Alan Belcher and Anthony Pettis. Because of his pro football experience, Mitrione is able to worry less about the physical aspect of training and competition and concentrate more on technique. The result has been the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder showing an increased arsenal in each of his fights.

“I have so many things to focus on because I’m so new, but the main thing is the technical aspect and not the physicality,” Mitrione said. “I can focus on the rolling part of jiu jitsu instead of the cardio. There’s a great learning curve, but in this camp and the last camp I didn’t have to get the shit kicked out of me because my body is already acclimated to highly-physical situations. It’s more about ‘What’s the spacing of this or the timing of this combination or what’s the counter to this submission’.”

When Mitrione and three other former NFL players – Jones, Brendan Schaub and Wes Shivers – appeared on TUF 10 it was a big storyline and a bit of a novelty. Now, with both Schaub and Mitrione having early success along with rising prospect Ovince St. Preux, a former University of Tennessee linebacker, doing well in Strikeforce, the football player turned fighter trend is becoming less of a fad and more of a realistic avenue for many athletes. Each of the aforementioned guys are great athletes – you have to be to play high-level football – and they also bring a unique perspective to the MMA world. Getting punched in the face for a living certainly isn’t easy, but either is life on the gridiron. Hopefully the politicians in New York understand that.

“There’s really no comparison to the violence in football and in MMA,” Mitrione said. “If you have somebody land a shin across your forehead you’re not going to be around very long in MMA, but what your neck and major joints go through on a football field is exponentially worse. People don’t understand the impact football has on your body. Take the fastest, most explosive person you know and run into them full speed 12 times a game and see how that goes.”

So will we see an influx of football players or other athletes into the MMA world? Maybe down the road, but not just yet.

“Hopefully as the paychecks in MMA increase football guys will realize they don’t have to face getting cut in training camp every year and all that BS,” Mitrione said. “It will give people like me the confidence to say, ‘I can do this’. Guys are explosive enough to succeed in this sport, it’s more of a question of can we take the pay cut and still support our families. In the NFL I made $16,000 in one week and now I train three months to make maybe eight or $10,000. Most guys are like, ‘Why would I do that?’ They just hold onto the pipe dream (of playing in the NFL) and hope it works out.”

Excited not only to fight Hague but to perform in front of the American troops, Mitrione said there’s a good chance he’ll have a big surprise in store on the day of weigh-ins.

“I might have a big-time celebrity coming out with me, so that will be cool if it happens,” Mitrione said. “If it happens it will be known at weigh-ins, and I can’t wait to see the reaction of the troops. The only thing I’m saying is that he lives in Nashville and wears a cowboy hat.”

Rizzo asked Mitrione if he had anything else in his bag of tricks, like maybe a “Showtime” kick. Mitrione laughed that one off, but promised he would have something up his sleeve for the soldiers.

“I will be doing some crazy shit in this match, rest assured.”