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Morecraft promises Mitrione a 'rude awakening'

Matt Mitrione is adamant his ground game is up to the challenge of Christian Morecraft at UFC Live, but Morecraft is convinced he is about to end the TUF 10 quarter-finalist's unbeaten record.

Mitrione has made huge strides since his days on the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter, when he lost to James McSweeney, winning all four of his UFC bouts to date. On Sunday he fights Morecraft, a man who lost on UFC debut to Stefan Struve, before bouncing back with a guillotine choke finish against Sean McCorkle.

Mitrione has largely used his striking game to score three stoppages so far, but he has no concerns if Morecraft takes him down.

"If we stand up, I'll put hands on him and damage him. If we go to the ground, I think the fans will see the ground game I've been holding on to pretty tight for quite a while," said Mitrione.

Morecraft's response is one of a confident man, who has won seven of eight professional bouts.

"Whatever. I'm not gonna let the words do the talking, I'm gonna let the battle do the talking. He's in for a rude awakening," promised the Team Bombsquad member.

"I need to keep my distance, I need to keep my hands up, usually his hands are down low, I need to check his kicks and fire back. Everything he's got, I'll have an answer for."

The last word is left for Mitrione, who admits he has a difficult opponent to overcome this weekend.

"He's a tough kid man, he's aggressive and he'll want to get his hands on me. That's the fun part, the chess match, to see if he can handle my movement and my strikes.

"If he can, maybe I'm in for a long day, if he can't, I'll try to put him away."

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