VIDEO | Matt Mitrione Has Lost All Respect for Roy Nelson: “I smoked him unanimously and he’s a cheater”

“We knew that if I got put in the crucifix, I was going to do this one move. Which I did. So if you go into the video and watch the video that’s on the internet or on YouTube, if you go into a minute and fifty four seconds left in the third round, you’re going to see me do a move that I do where I bring my left heel across his right calf, I squeeze my knees together, and if I bridged or twist my hips hard enough it actually becomes a sweep and I end up on top and Roy [Nelson] loses his position. Well when I reached my leg across I didn’t squeez my knees hard enough. But it was enough for Roy to kind of feel he was going to lose his balance if I did it again.

So once he got out of it which he did then he maintained position, Roy then took his right big toe and lifted his foot off the ground and stuck it inside the fence and then for 45 seconds, or 40 seconds or so, inside of that round when he was on top of me punching me or elbowing me, he was cheating. He had all this leverage, because he was pushing off the fence driving into me. For Roy to grandstand, to be like, ‘Oh, I’m full of integrity, I don’t cheat, I don’t steroids or anything else, blah blah blah,’ and then when the fight comes down to it, to say you need to win, because you lost the first two rounds, then you start to cheat just so you can win? That’s garbage, man. You’re a grandstanding dude with false integrity and I’ve got nothing for it. And if you guys think I’m being a sore winner, just go back and watch the film. 

What I’m saying is, for the time that he was supposedly winning that fight, for the second half of the third round, he was cheating. So, I don’t consider it at all. I think I smoked him unanimously and I think he’s a cheater. So I lost all respect for him and I’m not gonna be cool with Roy ever going forward again. That’s sideways and bogus.

Old boy has got issues. He’s got character and quality issues. I don’t like Roy Nelson. He’s not my dude anymore. I have no plans to be cool with him. If you’re gonna cheat to try and beat me, you’re a dirtbag and I’ve got no respect for you. So I’ve lost all juice for Roy. All of it.”

The Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix has had it’s second fighter advance. Matt Mitrione and Roy Nelson headlined Bellator 194 this past Friday in a rematch that was a part of the tournament to determine Bellator’s next heavyweight champion.

Mitrione would defeat Nelson via majority decision which was a much different outcome than the first time that they met back in 2012 with Nelson knocking Mitrione out in just the first round.

Potential controversy aside, Mitrione still came out on top and will move on throughout the title tournament. Next for him will be either the current Bellator light heavyweight champion and fellow former UFC fighter, Ryan Bader or the former Strikeforce champion, “King Mo” Muhammad Lawal. Those two are set to fight in May.

What did you make of Mitrione vs Nelson 2? Did you think the cheating was as bad as Mitrione made it out to be?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/19/2018.