After losing his job with the WWE, Matt Riddle is looking to fight MMA again. Preferably somewhere with lax drug testing, we assume.
Former MMA fighter turned pro wrestler Matt Riddle is best known to fight fans for failing multiple marijuana drug tests en route to being released by the UFC. Now the story gets even weirder as “The King of Bros” admitted he failed three drug tests for cocaine before being released by the WWE.
In a new interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Riddle suggests it wasn’t the cocaine stuff that resulted in him getting fired. He just had a big pay bump built into his WWE contract that was coming up … along with all that other stuff that kept landing him on the front page of TMZ.
“It was written in my contract that I was going to make a million dollars this upcoming year guaranteed,” Riddle said. “Which was a lot more than I was making last year, and a lot more than I was making the year before that. So I think there was multiple variables that played into my departure. Plus, I failed a couple of drug tests. You know, the writing, for me at least, the writing was on the wall.”
“I went to the strip club and did cocaine a couple times,” he admitted. “I failed a drug test for that. That was for all of them, it was cocaine each time. It was just a random night. WWE tests you randomly, any week. Sometimes, you get tested at the end of one month and the beginning of another month.”
“When I thought I was in the clear, went out, partied a little bit, they gave me a random test at my house, I failed that, and shortly after that, they had me go to rehab.”
Riddle completed a 30 day rehab stint but turned down a request from his treatment facility to do another 30 days. So when he got into another incident at JFK airport where he drunkenly accused a border agent of molesting him, it was the final straw.
Matt is back on the independent circuit and happy to be able to take time off for his mental and physical health when he needs it. He’s also looking to step back into the cage for another MMA fight in 2024. With his UFC bridges burnt, he’s willing to entertain some outside the box options.
“I saw you’ve got Masvidal with the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA,” he said. “Maybe get me somebody that won’t steamroll me, you know, let me shake off the dust. I weigh 211 pounds, 211 [right now]. I will probably drop down to middleweight. Well, it depends on who you give me. Depends on the fight.”