Matt Mitrione Matthew Steven Mitrione ( born July 15 , 1978 ) is an American mixed martial artist and former NFL football player , playing for the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings . He was a cast member of Spike TV ' s " " . Mixed martial arts . Mitrione began fighting after Jayson Werth , a professional baseball player for the Washington Nationals , and close friend of Mitrione , asked Mitrione to fight in his inaugural promotion . Mitrione is a former member of Integrated Fighting Academy with Chris Lytle in Indiana . He currently trains out of Fort Lauderdale , Florida , with the Blackzillians . " The Ultimate Fighter " . Mitrione appeared on the tenth season of " The Ultimate Fighter " . On the show , he was given the unofficial nickname " Meathead " by his coach Rashad Evans . After being picked second to last by Evans , Mitrione fought and defeated Scott Junk via majority ( 19 – 19 , 20 – 18 and 20 – 18 ) decision , moving him on to the quarter finals . Following Mitrione ' s fight with Junk , Mitrione complained about migraines and dizziness , causing many of the cast members to feel that Mitrione may bow out of the competition to give Kimbo Slice a second opportunity . Much to the dismay of everyone , including Dana White , Mitrione did fight and was eliminated by teammate James McSweeney in the quarterfinals , losing via guillotine choke . Ultimate Fighting Championship . Mitrione made his professional MMA debut at defeating Marcus Jones via KO early in the second round . Mitrione then faced another fellow " Ultimate Fighter " alumnus Kimbo Slice at UFC 113 in Montreal . Mitrone chopped Slice down with leg kicks and eventually defeated Slice via TKO ( punches ) in the second round , taking his professional record to 2 – 0 . Mitrione faced Joey Beltran on September 25 , 2010 at UFC 119 . He won the fight via unanimous decision ( 29 – 28 , 29 – 28 , 29 – 28 ) and also won the " Fight of the Night " award . Mitrione defeated Tim Hague on January 22 , 2011 at UFC Fight Night 23 via TKO in the first round . It was mentioned during the post - fight interview that Mitrione had broken his left hand and later confirmed that he had injured the second metacarpal in his left hand . Mitrione fought Christian Morecraft on June 26 , 2011 at UFC on Versus 4 . Mitrione dominated the first round with his standup scoring two knockdowns . Mitrione ended the fight via KO at 4 : 28 of round 2 . Mitrione suffered his first professional MMA loss to Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision ( 30 – 27 , 30 – 28 , 29 – 28 ) on October 29 , 2011 at UFC 137 . Mitrione was unable to mount any consistent offense against Kongo on the feet as Kongo used his jab to keep Mitrione at bay , and in the 3rd round Kongo secured a takedown and controlled Mitrione through the end of the fight . Mitrione was expected to face Rob Broughton on August 4 , 2012 at UFC on FOX 4 . However , the bout was scrapped after Broughton pulled out for an undisclosed personal matter . Mitrione / Broughton was briefly linked to UFC on FX 5 but was eventually scrapped altogether . Mitrione was expected to face Phil De Fries on December 29 , 2012 at UFC 155 . But Mitrione was pulled out of the bout to step in for injured Shane Carwin against Roy Nelson at on December 15 , 2012 . He lost the fight via TKO in the first round . Mitrione vs . De Fries eventually took place on April 6 , 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV 9 . Mitrione won the fight via knockout just 19 seconds into the first round . On April 8 , 2013 it was announced that Mitrione had his contract suspended by the UFC after making transphobic comments about male - to - female trangender fighter Fallon Fox during an interview on The MMA Hour . Mitrione called Fox a " lying , sick , sociopathic , disgusting freak " who he hoped would and never fight again , and referred to Fox by male pronouns . Mitrione also criticized the state of Florida for licensing Fox to fight . The suspension was lifted after two weeks when Mitrione ' s next fight against Brendan Schaub was announced . Mitrione is expected to face Brendan Schaub on July 27 , 2013 at UFC on Fox 8 . Personal life . Mitrione has two sons and one daughter with wife Tina . The couple had their third child in November 2010 . Matt was also a former defensive tackle for Purdue University ' s football team from 1998 – 2001 , along with Drew Brees , who is also a good friend of Mitrione . Mitrione is also close friends with NFL tight end Jeremy Shockey . Charity work . Matt Mitrione has been involved with several other UFC fighters ( Sean Pierson , Mark Hominick , and Sam Stout ) as part of a Toronto area anti - bullying program .