With a proper training camp, time to prepare, and a healthy athletic base, the heavyweight division is still the sloppiest in mixed martial arts. Absent any of those things, it can produce a prizefight so bad that you will begin to believe in the theory of relative time and space.
Though he didn’t participate in a fight, much of Wednesday’s episode focused on Matt Mitrione staring vacantly into space and trying to explain to coaches that he might have “brain swelling.” This condition does not normally allow for the kind of casual conversation Mitrione enjoyed. More often, it demands the attention of a neurosurgeon, a tranquilizer, and a quiet room in which to drill into your skull.
Mitrione’s peers were equally unconvinced. “He’s not brain damaged,” James McSweeney announced. Considering how this cast has performed so far, he’s probably right. That kind of trauma is out of their reach.