Matt Mitrione’s Mouthpiece Was A Nightmare
Matt Mitrione suffered a devastating KO loss last night at Bellator 225 from Sergei Kharitonov. In the match, Mitrione’s mouthpiece was a major concern, falling out of his mouth a total of four times. While the situation was unfortunate, Mitrione took to Twitter to let everyone know that the mouthpiece wasn’t the reason for the loss.
Mitrione Responded via Twitter
Me losing was not because of my mouthpiece, it was because of my response to the situation. I always use the same one & lost it Thursday before fight week. Had an impression done at a West Lafayette dentist. It was shipped to hotel. First time I ever wore it was tonight.
Mitrione stated that his loss did not come from his mouthpiece. The loss came as a result of how he handled the situation.
He went on to explain that he always uses the same mouthpiece during fights but misplaced it the Thursday before fight week. He had to quickly get a new dental impression done at a dentist in Lafayette. Lastly, he got the mouthpiece shipped to the hotel and the first time he wore it was the night of the fight.
A Case Of Bad Luck
Referee Dan Miragliotta issued a stern warning to Mitrione after the mouthpiece fell out for the third time. After it fell out for the fourth time, Kharitonov capitalized and landed a crushing right uppercut that followed up with an explosive knee to the face.
While the mouthpiece situation seems to be a case of absolute bad luck, it adds to the recent unfortunate mishaps that Mitrione has faced in the cage lately.
Mitrione is on a streak of being winless in the last three of his fights. This marks the first time he was ever gone winless within that time span.
The initiator of the skid came during the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix final at Bellator 207. Mitrione lost a unanimous decision to current heavyweight world champion Ryan Bader.
Before the KO loss to Kharitonov the second time around, Mitrione fought him to a no-contest their first time around six months prior. The fight ended due to Matt accidentally striking Kharitonov in the groin.
Hopefully, Mitrione can get back on the right track and bounce back from this unfortunate circumstance. He entered the Bellator heavyweight division with 4 straight wins and three of them coming via knockout.
Kharitonov is now undefeated in his last eight bouts and should be considered to face the heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader. Bader is firstly expected to take on challenger Cheick Kongo.
