Matthew Riddle is getting right back to work following his recent suspension.
According to UFC.com, Riddle has agreed to replace the injured Stephen “Wonderboy” Thomspon against Besam Yousef at UFC 154 on Nov. 17. As MMAFighting.com first reported last week, Thompson pulled out of UFC 154 due to a knee injury suffered in training last week. He expects to be out of action for approximately eight weeks after surgery.
Riddle (6-3, 1 NC) recently saw his UFC 149 submission win over Chris Clements overturned to a no-contest by the Calgary Combative Sports Commission after he tested positive for marijuana. His three-month suspension recently expired, making him eligible to take this fight on short notice.
“I do smoke but I’m not smoking to get stoned,” he said last week on The MMA Hour. “I’m smoking so I can finally relax, sit back and just not worry about things. People, maybe they did it in college one way, but for a guy like me, for a professional athlete that goes through what we go through, it’s medicine for me. Maybe for some little stoner sitting on the couch playing XBox, for him, it’s a drug. For me, it’s medicine.”
Yousef (6-1) is looking to bounce back from the first loss of his career. He was submitted by Simmeon Thoresen in his Octagon debut at UFC on FUEL TV 3 in April.
UFC 154, headlined by Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit for the undisputed UFC welterweight title, takes place Nov. 17 from the Bell Centre in Montreal.