A healthy portion of combat sports athletes are fans of combat sports, but not necessarily stick-and-ball sports.
Not so for Matt Frevola, the toughest fan of the Mets, Jets, Islanders and Knicks in the tri-state area.
The Long Island native, nicknamed “Steamrolla,” fielded about as many questions from reporters this week about his favorite teams as he did about his anticipated lightweight matchup against Drew Dober at UFC 288 on Saturday.
The fandom is mutual, as Frevola (10-3-1, six finishes) expects some notable Mets representation at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., for his fight: a catcher, an infielder, and the billionaire family that owns his beloved franchise.
“[Tomas] Nido’s a good buddy, said he’ll be at the fight as well. [Luis] Guillorme will be at the fights,” Frevola told reporters Wednesday. “… and hopefully the Cohens will be at the fights.”
Frevola later confirmed with The Post that Mets owner Steve Cohen and son, Josh, plan on sitting cageside.
Anyone who has seen Frevola, a former multisport athlete at Harborfields High School in Suffolk County, compete in the octagon understands why his fights are not to be missed.
His last two opponents couldn’t make it out of the first round and succumbed to his powerful hands.
The latest performance, in front of a friendly crowd at Madison Square Garden in November, was his best yet.
After he walked out to the cage to Timmy Trumpet’s song “Narco” — same as Mets closer Edwin Diaz did for appearances last season — the 32-year-old shut down betting favorite Ottman Azaitar in exactly half a round with a punishing left hook as he was backed up against the cage.
The grinning Frevola then coaxed a “Steam-roll-a” chant from the Garden faithful, a moment he has designs on repeating on the other side of the Hudson River.
“I love putting on for the home crowd, for my people, the Northeast.
We’re built different over here” said the laid-back Frevola. “And I can’t wait to hear the ‘Steamrolla’ chants going through the Prudential Center.”
Frevola already has experienced another moment this spring that few New York sports fans ever get: the chance to throw out the first pitch at Citi Field.
That came on April 28, with his father Salvatore catching and twin brother James serving as umpire.
Hurling from the mound, Frevola mixed a high kick into his windup before firing over the plate — too high for a strike — as Dad managed to corral the pitch.
“Honestly, it was a dream come true,” said a beaming Frevola. “Still watching back the footage, I can’t believe it. I had a nice windup, I was honestly a little nervous when I got there. I got out to the mound, and I was like, ‘Man, this is, like, a little bit further than what I thought it was gonna be.’
“But, you know, I’m an athlete. I nailed the wind up. And then my dad came in big. He went up and made the catch. I threw some high heat, and my dad made the catch. And then my brother’s still called it a strike.”
His athletic endeavor Saturday, however, will be a solo act; just up-and-coming 155-pounder Frevola against Dober (26-11, 19 finishes), a 10-year UFC veteran with a track record of exciting fights and blistering knockouts.
Dober, who went 3-0 with three (T)KOs in 2022, is regarded as a top-15 lightweight. It’s a sizable step up in competition that caught even Frevola off guard.
But the down-to-earth Frevola isn’t making too big a thing of the golden opportunity to launch himself several rungs up the ladder.
“The next fight is always the biggest fight, but this is the highest-ranked fighter I’ve fought,” Frevola says. “The goal from the beginning was to be a world champ, and now I’m fighting the No. 14 [UFC lightweight contender] in the world. So once I beat him, I should be ranked up there, and we’re on our way to the world title.”
