The Riddler

But I know that all of his professional fights have been in the UFC…which is something I wouldnt recommend.

To start as a total novice professionally in the biggest organization there is…it’s not a very good thing.

So, being a TUFer who was a rookie…they brought him along slowly. He started off 3-0 before losing his first fight, and then followed up with back to back wins after that.

One was via DQ, but he was handily winning the fight before the illegal upkick took him out.

The Sean Pierson fight occured at UFC 124, where fans were allowed to vote the fight of the night. It was a stupid idea that amounted to a popularity contest, and GSP vs Koscheck got it when Riddle’s fight with Pierson deserved it more…it was very entertaining.

Then he DID get fight of the night against undefeated Lance Benoist.

If he lost on Saturday, he likely would have been cut.

He’s only 26 and does have a lot of heart and guts…not sure how bright of a future he can have, but one fight at a time I guess.

He is enormous.

He is a good wrestler and an OK grappler. He is terrible in the striking department.

He is an entertaining guy, relatively funny and has the look that could be marketed if his skill level would catch up with the rest. He probably needs to get out of Vegas and find a nice quiet gym somewhere that will push him and where he can concentrate on fighting.

He misses a lot of punches in some fight and it’s pretty funny looking.

Hes got good takedowns. His stand up is a mixture of Leonard Garcia and Jake Shields. He is huge. And that’s it.

His mom drives him everywhere.

(All I remember from TUF)

He needs a new camp big time. As someone else said, he has actually regressed since TUF. He sticks with his awful striking and makes no effort to take the fight to the ground where that is his main strength. I am sure it’s tough having a whole career in the UFC but he definitely needs a change to evolve his skillset

I don’t think he is good enough, he is bottom of the food chain at best. He’d prob do ok on the regional scene. I mean he just scraped by a UFC debutant he had about 15-20lbs+ and 6 inches in height on who took the fight on short notice.

At least, that’s just my own opinion based on his stint on the show a few of the fights following his time on TUF.

When he was introduced to TUF, he had to fight his way into the house. He was just a 22 year old dude with only one amateur fight under his belt. However, he was also a Division 1 wrestler in college, as well as being a purple belt in BJJ (which he earned in only two years).

In his elimination fight against Dan Simmler (A very talented grappler who trained under Matt Serra) Matt did well in the first round, he hit a nice hip toss and controlled the fight on the ground despite being in the cage with a superior grappler. In the second round of the fight, Matt came out in the opening seconds and countered Dan Simmler’s leg kick with a hard right hand that cracked Simmler’s jaw, knocking him out instantly. Matt continued with the assault until Herb Dean pulled him off and called the fight. What followed after is some of the creepiest shit to ever happen in the octagon. Dan Simmler, laying on the canvas motionless, eyes half open, begins shrieking and moaning in what sounds like terrible agony. Everyone, including Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson, and Dana White were speechless. Turns out that Matt broke Dan’s Jaw in 3 places and gave him a third degree concussion. Rampage Jackson then went on to say that Matt Riddle got ‘knockout of the century’

During the team picks for the show, Matt Riddle was picked #2 on Rampage’s team. Matt Riddle was then matched up to fight Tim Crueder, who was Team Forrest’s first pick. So it was Forrest’s #1 pick against Rampage’s #2 pick. Riddle came into the fight very confident and sure of himself, despite his lack of experience and the fact that he was fighting one of the toughest and most experienced fighters in the house.

As the fight started, Matt did well, taking Tim’s back and controlling him on the ground. He even started to work Tim a bit. Then, Tim being the BJJ wiz he is, gained the positional advantage, got mount, and begin working Matt Riddle. Matt was bloodied from the nose, but he was still game. He came out in the second round and had Tim retreating all the way back after Matt socked him the face with a good (right?) hand and followed up with an aggressive head kick combo. Matt was winning the stand up and had the advantage in the second round. As Tim was on the ground, Rampage screamed at Matt to keep the fight standing on the feet. But Matt didn’t listen and followed Tim to the ground. Big Mistake. In the final minute of the fight, Tim latched on a nice arm bar (if i remember correctly it was from the mount, it was pretty) and he forced Matt Riddle to tap. Matt’s stint on the show had come to an end.

After the TUF finale, Matt defeated Dante Rivera, and following that victory he cut down to the Welterweight division (Which wasn’t too bad of an idea, he’s a huge WW, long reach and very tall) where he found success against guys like Steve Bruno and Dan Crammer.

Then came the loss to Osipzak. At UFC 105, Matt fought ‘slick’ Nick Osipzak, and the first round was competitive, I gave the first round to Matt. However, after the first round, it was all downhill for Matt Riddle. He gassed bad, real bad, and Nick took advantage. In the third, Matt was clearly tired and he was failing at the takedowns. After finally getting a takedown, Nick sweeped Matt and ended up in mount. He rained down punches. The ref stopped the fight. Matt lost. In interviews following that fight, Matt said that he was sick throughout his training camp and couldn’t prepare adequately for the fight.

Matt’s next fight was a DQ win which saw him get upkicked in the jaw while he had both knees on the ground. Matt was winning the fight but because of the illegal upkick (and the fact that he couldn’t continue) they awarded him the win. His fight after that was against TUF alum Demarques Johnson. Matt said that he was going to stop Johnson, and on UFC on VS 2, he did just that, beating Demarques by TKO.

Since you’ve seen the Pierson fight and a few of his other (most recent?) fights, I’ll save you the play by play and just say that by this point, I expected more from Matt. I think he has the tools to do well and advance in the division, but I don’t know what the deal is. Perhaps he has peaked as a fighter? Or maybe he needs to move back up in weight? There are many factors as to why some of his recent performances were not as consistent or impressive as his earlier ones, but despite his set backs, he is a very game fighter and is still a young man (I think he’s only 25, maybe 26?) and I believe( or better yet, hope) that he can still improve.

Thanks for reading, I hope this helps answer your curiosity about Matt Riddle.

Meh.

and he broke Dan’s jaw. It was beautiful. Been a fan ever since.