PHOENIX, AZ - DECEMBER 13: Matt Mitrione prepares to enter the Octagon before facing Gabriel Gonzaga of Brazil in their heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at the U.S. Airways Center on December 13, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Bellator’s Matt Mitrione open to money fights with KSW’s Phil De Fries and UFC’s Greg Hardy, among others.

Bellator heavyweight Matt Mitrione is just days away from his rematch with Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 225 on August 24 and while he isn’t overlooking his opponent, he did express interest in two fights with athletes outside of his current promotion.

KSW’s Martin Lewandowski and Bellator’s Scott Coker both expressed interest in a cross-promotion between their fighters and when presented with the idea of rematching KSW’s Phil De Fries, Mitrione was interested … once he realized he’d already fought him.

“That was him?” Mitrione laughed when told he’d fought De Fries and defeated him via 19 second KO back in April 2013. “I compete at any cost. I love competing, that’s why I do what I do. If Phil is down, I’m down.”

But Mitrione didn’t stop there. In addition to a fight with De Fries, there’s another he’d also like to fight.

“If that dude Greg Hardy who just put his name in my mouth and if he wants to get down tell the UFC they have my phone number. Call up Mr. Scott Coker and let’s go ahead and see who really is the best former football player,” he said.

But Mitrione isn’t looking past Kharitonov, who he’ll be stepping into the cage to face for the first time since their last fight was deemed a no-contest after an accidental groin strike to Kharitonov deemed him unable to continue.

“I knew we’re gonna run it back,” Mitrione told FanSided. “So I wasn’t terrible in that aspect. But It sucks because I felt like I let everybody else down. I felt like I let the organization down and I felt like I let my teammates who trained me for that fight down. That whole situation sucked and I take a lot of pride in my work ethic and my results and I felt like I just let people down there.”

Mitrione assured us there is no bad blood between the two who spoke briefly after the incident.

“In between the moments [after the fight] when things kind of calmed down I told him, ‘I’m so sorry’ and he told me it was OK. He knew it wasn’t on purpose, it was an accident.”

Even though there’s no bad blood about the last fight, Mitrione knows he still has to defeat him if he wants to get back into the title picture.

“I have to beat Kharitonov,” he said. “That’s not even the clique ambiguous answer. I am the best heavyweight, minus Ryan Bader, I think I have established that. So, I think Kharitonov is a very close second to me or third to me and I think beating him only solidifies my position.”

So how exactly does Mitrione plan to take the W on Saturday and propel himself into the spotlight again?

“I’m not going to kick him in his nuts again,” Mitrione laughed.

Bellator 225 takes place on Friday, Aug. 24, 2019, live from the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT. It will air live on DAZN. Follow along with FanSided MMA for all your live results and highlights.