UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Make no mistake: Matt Mitrione likes getting in the cage to compete. And he likes winning. And he likes the thought of becoming the next Bellator heavyweight champion.

But if given the choice, he’d be home this week to spend Valentine’s Day with his daughter.

The way it stands, Mitrione (12-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) has a job to do Saturday night when he headlines Bellator 194 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., in a Paramount-televised rematch with Roy Nelson (22-14 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Their fight is part of the opening round of Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix tournament, which Mitrione is the betting favorite to win to become the next champ.

After he fights Friday, he’s set to be on one of the first flights out Saturday morning so he can get home to a different dance partner. He’s got a daddy-daughter dance to think about, and he said he hopes his face isn’t showing too many signs of his fight with Nelson. (The first time they fought, in the UFC, Nelson knocked Mitrione out in the first round.)

It won’t be the first time Mitrione has had a school function with his daughter soon after a fight. When he fought Travis Browne in what turned out to be his final UFC fight before coming to Bellator as a free agent, Mitrione suffered a gruesome eye injury from an inadvertent poke.

Check out the video above to hear Mitrione recall that injury and what his daughter thought about it when father-daughter picture day came up. Then don’t miss his main event Friday against Nelson on Paramount.

And for more on Bellator 194, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.