Matt Mitrione must get through the winner of Saturday’s Bellator 199 main event between Ryan Bader and Muhammed Lawal first, but he has a tough time bottling his excitement when looking ahead to a potential rematch with Fedor Emelianenko in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix. Mitrione (13-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) already punched his ticket to the tournament semifinals with a with over Roy Nelson at Bellator 194 in February. He will fight the winner of Bader (24-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) and Lawal (21-6 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) next, with the winner advancing to the finals where either Emelianenko (37-5 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) or Chael Sonnen (30-15-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) will be waiting. In his most recent fight prior to tournament, Mitrione beat Emelianenko by first-round knockout at Bellator NYC in June. He said he was pleased to see the former PRIDE champion win his opening-round matchup against Frank Mir at Bellator 198, and if each man can tally one more win, a rematch will be made.
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Matt Mitrione: Chael Sonnen ‘a tough fight for Fedor,’ defends Frank Mir’s loss – MMA Junkie