Matt Mitrione declined Roy Nelson's invitation to participate in VADA testing for their fight this coming Saturday night at The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale because he wanted to avoid any unnecessary distractions. Mitrione is replacing Shane Carwin in the main event from Las Vegas.

"I felt it was a distraction and I didn't want to deal with it," said Mitrione, during a conference call on Monday. "I'm not opposed to it, I was just so invested in this fight that I didn't want to deal with any distractions."

Mitrione, a former competitor on TUF with Nelson, has not fought since suffering his first pro defeat at the hands of Cheick Kongo last October. He fought three times in 2011, but has been out of action since after having a planned fight with Rob Broughton scrapped.

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