Tag: Matt Riddle

True Confessions: I Gave Matt Riddle Weed Before He Got Fired From the UFC, And I Also Stole His Gloves


(Photo courtesy of the author.)

By George Tibbles

CagePotato has allowed me to write an article for its legion of reprobates and cretins — well, in the eyes of some leading industry figures anyway — and I’d like to use this opportunity to issue an open letter to our second-favourite, no wait third-favourite, ahh fuck it, one of the many stoners in MMA, Matt “Deep Waters” Riddle. Matt and I shared a brief moment in time last year, and I want to publicly apologise to him for my actions that night. Hopefully, I didn’t wreck his career.

Allow me to introduce myself and set the scene a little. Initially you may notice my vocabulary may be a bit different. This is due to myself being a typical Limey wanker. So I’ll clear a few things up though before I proceed: I can’t stand tea in any form, in no way are my teeth perfect but they’re not bad either, I think Bisping is awesome, I’m fully aware I may be writing this in German were it not for The US of A’s (late) involvement in WW2, I also whole-heartedly apologise on behalf of my country for this this twat and I am quite susceptible to the lay ‘N’ pray strategy. But I digress.

So let’s rewind back to February 16th, 2013, to the Barao vs McDonald card at the Wembley Arena in London. Now the UFC only comes to my little island once or twice a year and normally brings with it a pretty sub-standard card in terms of name recognition. So, me and my band of merry men turn it into a bit of a “boys” weekend and end up in all types of debauchery, eventually returning home with our tails between our legs and feeling rougher than a badger’s arsehole.

This particular card is pretty much a drunken haze, and I can only remember pieces of it. The Snake’s leg internally combusting. Watson repeatedly kneeing Nedkov. During the Poirier/Swanson fight, there was an equally good fight going on in the stands. (In the third round, Swanson put his hand to his ear thinking the crowd was cheering him, but in actual fact the crowd was cheering the huge fella raining down bombs on some poor twat.) And a delightful member of bar staff named Shaniqua who had tickled my fancy and was evidently turned off by how unbelievably twatted I was.

It was at UFC 138 where we discovered that, at UK events at least, the UFC puts the fighters in the closest Hilton Hotel to the event stadium. So for each event we go to, we always head to the nearest Hilton and have our post-fight/pre-club drinks there. After this particular card, the strategy paid off in droves.


(Photo courtesy of the author.)

By George Tibbles

CagePotato has allowed me to write an article for its legion of reprobates and cretins — well, in the eyes of some leading industry figures anyway — and I’d like to use this opportunity to issue an open letter to our second-favourite, no wait third-favourite, ahh fuck it, one of the many stoners in MMA, Matt “Deep Waters” Riddle. Matt and I shared a brief moment in time last year, and I want to publicly apologise to him for my actions that night. Hopefully, I didn’t wreck his career.

Allow me to introduce myself and set the scene a little. Initially you may notice my vocabulary may be a bit different. This is due to myself being a typical Limey wanker. So I’ll clear a few things up though before I proceed: I can’t stand tea in any form, in no way are my teeth perfect but they’re not bad either, I think Bisping is awesome, I’m fully aware I may be writing this in German were it not for The US of A’s (late) involvement in WW2, I also whole-heartedly apologise on behalf of my country for this this twat and I am quite susceptible to the lay ‘N’ pray strategy. But I digress.

So let’s rewind back to February 16th, 2013, to the Barao vs McDonald card at the Wembley Arena in London. Now the UFC only comes to my little island once or twice a year and normally brings with it a pretty sub-standard card in terms of name recognition. So, me and my band of merry men turn it into a bit of a “boys” weekend and end up in all types of debauchery, eventually returning home with our tails between our legs and feeling rougher than a badger’s arsehole.

This particular card is pretty much a drunken haze, and I can only remember pieces of it. The Snake’s leg internally combusting. Watson repeatedly kneeing Nedkov. During the Poirier/Swanson fight, there was an equally good fight going on in the stands. (In the third round, Swanson put his hand to his ear thinking the crowd was cheering him, but in actual fact the crowd was cheering the huge fella raining down bombs on some poor twat.) And a delightful member of bar staff named Shaniqua who had tickled my fancy and was evidently turned off by how unbelievably twatted I was.

It was at UFC 138 where we discovered that, at UK events at least, the UFC puts the fighters in the closest Hilton Hotel to the event stadium. So for each event we go to, we always head to the nearest Hilton and have our post-fight/pre-club drinks there. After this particular card, the strategy paid off in droves.

As we went to enter the Wembley Hilton, the concierge arrogantly refused to let us in, as we were showing obvious signs of prior P.E.D. abuse and smelt like the inside of Susan Boyle’s thigh after a particularly intense Zumba class. So we decided to set up camp just outside the entrance and meet as many people as we could before our lift back home arrived.

We were chatting with “One Punch” Pickett when another fighter showed up, and I saw my chance to get past the toffee-nosed prick of a concierge. The fighter in question was Matt Riddle — someone who I know is close friends with Mary, Jane and Doctor Greenthumb. Already feeling fearless due to consuming a violent cocktail of Cuban Rum, Guinness, red wine and combination E numbers even the current British government wouldn’t allow in our now famous Horse Lasagne, I decided to make a daring move.

I casually sauntered over to Matt, reached into my Guinness sodden Levi’s and then pulled out a bag of bud so appetising no self-respecting Ent could refuse it. Particularly an Ent who has just gone fifteen minutes with the “Beautiful One”. So I got the bud and gently cupped it in my hand, proceeded to walk over to Deep Waters, and shouted “Hey Matt can you sign my hand?”. Initially he looked at me all weird, as anyone would do to a fully grown man with pupils the size of dinner plates asking for you to sign his hand. I thought “Oh Shit”; my intoxicated brain had not considered this scenario. I suavely locked eyes with Matt and said assertively, “Just look in my hand Matt.”

As Matt’s eyes slowly started to draw down to my hand I could tell he was expecting there to be a Polaroid of me in ladies underwear, a knife, or just something generally unpleasant. Then it happened, he locked eyes with my green nugget of hunger inducing goodness and gave me a wry smirk (phew!). He then told me to follow him up to his room and told the concierge we were his brothers. As I walked past the concierge I flipped him the Stockton Heybuddy and we were in. Jurassic park!

Once in Matt’s room I started to roll up. Just as I was finishing rolling I asked Matt if he was coming out for a smoke. Matt told me he couldn’t smoke as he hadn’t spoken to Dana yet, who normally comes to congratulate him after his wins, and he definitely didn’t want to be having that conversation while high as a kite. We sat down, talked and drank a nice quantity of liquor, and spoke for a while about his previous marijuana suspension. Matt proudly proclaimed he hadn’t smoked anything for over a full month before his fight with Che Mills, talked about when he won a wrestling competition that Jon Jones was in, about how he learned most of his technique in the early days from BJ Penn’s books, and generally was a down to earth guy who seemed sincerely grateful and surprised he still had fans in the UK after the “butter toothed Brits” comment. What you see is what you get with Matt; he really was exactly as he comes across in press conferences and on TUF.


(A short video from the night in question, courtesy of the author.)

Now this is where my apology comes into play. I have a problem when I’m drunk and that problem is irrational Kleptomania. Basically, I steal random shit when I’m drunk. My house is full of used fire extinguishers, road signs, and even the queue separators from KFC (don’t ask). Anyway, Matt’s suitcase was casually laid open in the middle of the room and on top was a pair of beat up camouflage 6oz MMA sparring gloves. Suddenly my Kleptomania reaches fever point.

So I fake a phone call, quietly pick the gloves up, and tell everybody I’m going to the corridor to finish my conversation and for them to let me back in shortly. Once in the hotel corridor I run about fifteen rooms down and stash the gloves. I then walk back into the room feeling like a boss only to have a sudden realisation…our lift back home isn’t due for another 45 minutes and my friends won’t want to leave until then without good reason. However in the middle of this god damn room (no bigger than 5×5 meters), is Matt’s suitcase splayed open like a cheap Thai whore, with his gloves missing. For 45 bastard minutes my arsehole was like a yawning hippo and I was constantly trying to divert his attention away from the suitcase like a scene in a bad 80’s sitcom.

An hour or so later my friend called to say he was outside, so we said our goodbyes to Matt and thanked him for a great night. As we were leaving I started to feel guilty about the gloves but it was too late to give them back. I decided I would give Matt something he truly desired, a nice big bud of Amsterdam’s finest.

Theoretically, that would have been the first bit of weed that Matt smoked for over a month (if he was being honest, which he seemed to be). Since reading about the events that transpired shortly after — Matt’s second positive test for marijuana and his immediate release from the UFC — and not knowing when the positive sample was taken, I’ve had a bit of a moral dilemma. Potentially the good deed green I gave him triggered a Butterfly Effect chain of events that led to Matt being cut. I lost a few nights sleep over this (metaphorically speaking, that is, since I sleep harder than a narcoleptic watching baseball) but I came to the realisation that despite his well-documented love of marijuana, Matt was his own man and in control of his own destiny.

So Matt, if you’re reading this, I just want to say sorry about the gloves, man. Get in contact with me and I will get them back out to you. They’ve been at a good home and have been the centrepiece of one of my BEST drunken stories since. Thanks for getting us past that snotty concierge and being the innocent, likeable, and almost juvenile Matt Riddle that I and the MMA community have come to know and appreciate you for.

I hope to see you back in the UFC soon on your one-man mission to out-wrestle us Brits.

Matt Riddle Signs With Titan Fighting Championships, Faces UFC vet Michael Kuiper at TFC 27 [MAYBE BUT PROBABLY NOT]


(After snapping this photo, Riddle would spend the next 15 minutes hitting himself in the head with his shoe.)

I wasn’t sure if I should start this article with a stoner joke or a vagabond joke, so I’ll just combine the two and say that Matt Riddle has more or less evolved into the Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker of the MMA world at this point. For the past year or so, the TUF 7 alum has just sort of drifted through several MMA organizations, handing out stoney life lessons on child-rearing, corporate greed and the employment crisis in America, all while retiring from MMA at least twice in the process.

And while Kai’s story ended in a murder charge, it appears that Riddle is destined for the slightly-more-dignified world of regional MMA (that was a joke, nerds, so please fight the urge to lose your shit in the comments section). News broke earlier today that “Deep Waters” has signed with Titan Fighting Championships — not to be confused with Legacy Fighting Championships, who Riddle almost fought for before Bellator bought out his contract — and will face fellow UFC vet Michael Kuiper in the co-main event of LFC 27 in February.

If I were a gambling man, however, I’d say that you’d be better off placing money on any currently scheduled UFC squash match title fight than on the likelihood of seeing Riddle actually show up for this thing. Although Titan FC CEO Jeff Aronson insists that Riddle is “…being exceptionally cooperative” thus far, he probably just spoke to Riddle after he had smoked a particularly potent strain of Cali Kush. Matter of fact, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Riddle pulls out of this fight tomorrow and claims that he thought he was receiving a role in the next Clash of the Titans movie the entire time.


(After snapping this photo, Riddle would spend the next 15 minutes hitting himself in the head with his shoe.)

I wasn’t sure if I should start this article with a stoner joke or a vagabond joke, so I’ll just combine the two and say that Matt Riddle has more or less evolved into the Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker of the MMA world at this point. For the past year or so, the TUF 7 alum has just sort of drifted through several MMA organizations, handing out stoney life lessons on child-rearing, corporate greed and the employment crisis in America, all while retiring from MMA at least twice in the process.

And while Kai’s story ended in a murder charge, it appears that Riddle is destined for the slightly-more-dignified world of regional MMA (that was a joke, nerds, so please fight the urge to lose your shit in the comments section). News broke earlier today that “Deep Waters” has signed with Titan Fighting Championships — not to be confused with Legacy Fighting Championships, who Riddle almost fought for before Bellator bought out his contract — and will face fellow UFC vet Michael Kuiper in the co-main event of LFC 27 in February.

If I were a gambling man, however, I’d say that you’d be better off placing money on any currently scheduled UFC squash match title fight than on the likelihood of seeing Riddle actually show up for this thing. Although Titan FC CEO Jeff Aronson insists that Riddle is “…being exceptionally cooperative” thus far, he probably just spoke to Riddle after he had smoked a particularly potent strain of Cali Kush. Matter of fact, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Riddle pulls out of this fight tomorrow and claims that he thought he was receiving a role in the next Clash of the Titans movie the entire time.

But for now, Riddle will square off with Kuiper, a 12-3 middleweight out of the Netherlands who dropped 3 out of 4 fights while in the UFC and is currently riding back-to-back guillotine choke losses. But what do you think, Nation? Will Riddle re-retire before ever stepping into the cage, or will he “SMASH! SMASH! SUUH-MAAASH!” Kuiper in his first post-UFC fight?

–J. Jones

Dana White Promises “A Knockout That Beats Uriah Hall’s” on TUF 19 [HOORAY?]

(And when Cella was just lying there all comatose while everyone was fearing for his life? FUCKING. AWESOME.)

As MMA fans, it’s safe to say that we can appreciate a good knockout when we see one. The timing, the precision, the simultaneous grace and utter devastation — these are all factors we take into account when, say, deciding the greatest knockout of the year. But as we are continuously reminded in the aftermath of knockouts like the spinning back kick Uriah Hall hit Adam Cella with on TUF 17, the line between a brilliant knockout and a hard-to-watch knockout is a thin one. As amazing as these displays of technique are to witness, they can often leave a sour taste in one’s mouth when the victim appears to be seriously injured as a result.

So perhaps we’re in the minority here, but when Dana White recently attempted to hype the 19th season of TUF by promising fans “a f*cking scary knockout,” we were less than enthused (okay, sarcastically enthused) to say the least (via Fox Sports):

We had the fights to get into the house yesterday on The Ultimate Fighter, probably the nastiest f-king knockout.  It beats Uriah Hall knockout. Was Uriah Hall not one of the sickest knockouts you’ve ever seen?  This one beats it.  Picture how f-king scary this knockout is.

On one hand, this could just be another instance of White attempting to stir up some buzz for a season of TUF that he knows no one is interested in. On the other, should we even be excited by this news?


(And when Cella was just lying there all comatose while everyone was fearing for his life? FUCKING. AWESOME.)

As MMA fans, it’s safe to say that we can appreciate a good knockout when we see one. The timing, the precision, the simultaneous grace and utter devastation — these are all factors we take into account when, say, deciding the greatest knockout of the year. But as we are continuously reminded in the aftermath of knockouts like the spinning back kick Uriah Hall hit Adam Cella with on TUF 17, the line between a brilliant knockout and a hard-to-watch knockout is a thin one. As amazing as these displays of technique are to witness, they can often leave a sour taste in one’s mouth when the victim appears to be seriously injured as a result.

So perhaps we’re in the minority here, but when Dana White recently attempted to hype the 19th season of TUF by promising fans “a f*cking scary knockout,” we were less than enthused (okay, sarcastically enthused) to say the least (via Fox Sports):

We had the fights to get into the house yesterday on The Ultimate Fighter, probably the nastiest f-king knockout.  It beats Uriah Hall knockout. Was Uriah Hall not one of the sickest knockouts you’ve ever seen?  This one beats it.  Picture how f-king scary this knockout is.

On one hand, this could just be another instance of White attempting to stir up some buzz for a season of TUF that he knows no one is interested in. On the other, should we even be excited by this news?

Rewatch the video of Hall’s KO, or Matt Riddle’s KO of Dan Simmler, for that matter, and ask yourself: Should this really be a selling point for our sport? It’s kind of contradictory to declare that our sport is so much safer than boxing one day — which, it barely is — and then promote this kind of uber-violence the next. While there are surely some MMA fans out there who follow the sport to satiate their own sadism, not everyone of us adopts a “Just Bleed” guy mentality towards fighters. Likewise, the UFC should be past the point where it needs to hype the brutality of the sport in order to get people interested.

But who knows, maybe ol’ DW is simply speaking in hyperbole again. Or maybe TUF 19 will feature a KO that leaves a fighter in a coma for a week. No matter the case, “scary” should probably be on the short list of words *not* to use when describing a knockout in a positive manner. That is, if you’re ever hoping to convert the Tim Rothfield’s of the world to our fine sport.

–J. Jones

And Now He’s Fired (Again): Matt Riddle Released By Bellator After Pulling Out of Second Straight Event

 
(Funny how this moment more or less serves as a metaphor for the past two years of Riddle’s life.) 

Ever since being ousted from the UFC following his second positive test for marijuana in his past three fights, Matt Riddle‘s MMA career has suffered more setbacks than the Obamacare website (#nailedit). First, he signed with Legacy Fighting Championships, only to have his contract bought out by Bellator before ever stepping foot in the LFC cage. He was then entered in the Bellator season 9 welterweight tournament, except that shortly thereafter, he injured his rib and decided to retire from the sport to find a “real job.” Except that less than a month later, Riddle announced his unretirement and accepted a fight at Bellator 109.

Unfortunately for Riddle, it looks like he will have to start looking for a “real job” once again (I hear Josh Rosenthal is seeking an understudy/mule), as he has now been released from his Bellator contract after pulling out of his second straight fight. Said Bellator Director of Communications Anthony Mazzuca in a prepared statement (via MMAFighting):

Matt was a guy we had high hopes for coming into Bellator. After Matt suffered his rib injury and withdrew from our tournament, we went back to the drawing board and got Matt another fight on November 22nd.

Unfortunately, Matt very recently informed us he would not be fighting on November 22nd from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and at that point we decided to release Matt from Bellator. We wish him the best in his future endeavors. 

Further muddying the “Deep Waters” (I’m so sorry, you guys) is the fact that no solid reasoning has been given for Riddle’s withdrawal from the card. As you might expect, Riddle’s scheduled opponent, Nathan Coy, is understandably pissed…

 
(Funny how this moment more or less serves as a metaphor for the past two years of Riddle’s life.) 

Ever since being ousted from the UFC following his second positive test for marijuana in his past three fights, Matt Riddle‘s MMA career has suffered more setbacks than the Obamacare website (#nailedit). First, he signed with Legacy Fighting Championships, only to have his contract bought out by Bellator before ever stepping foot in the LFC cage. He was then entered in the Bellator season 9 welterweight tournament, except that shortly thereafter, he injured his rib and decided to retire from the sport to find a “real job.” Except that less than a month later, Riddle announced his unretirement and accepted a fight at Bellator 109.

Unfortunately for Riddle, it looks like he will have to start looking for a “real job” once again (I hear Josh Rosenthal is seeking an understudy/mule), as he has now been released from his Bellator contract after pulling out of his second straight fight. Said Bellator Director of Communications Anthony Mazzuca in a prepared statement (via MMAFighting):

Matt was a guy we had high hopes for coming into Bellator. After Matt suffered his rib injury and withdrew from our tournament, we went back to the drawing board and got Matt another fight on November 22nd.

Unfortunately, Matt very recently informed us he would not be fighting on November 22nd from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and at that point we decided to release Matt from Bellator. We wish him the best in his future endeavors. 

Further muddying the “Deep Waters” (I’m so sorry, you guys) is the fact that no solid reasoning has been given for Riddle’s withdrawal from the card. As you might expect, Riddle’s scheduled opponent, Nathan Coy, is understandably pissed (via BloodyElbow):

He bailed out. I’m not happy about it.

As far as I know, maybe he was sick and didn’t get the proper training in. I’d love to have him in the first round of the tournament and smash him up. Maybe he wants to put it off. I’ll fight him no problem. If he wants to wait until he can be better another day, I’m fine with that. Just make sure you man up and fight that day. I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish here by playing games. This is my livelihood. I’m supporting my family by doing this. I needed this opportunity like he needed this opportunity. It’s his hometown. What the hell’s going on? He should be thrilled to fight on that card. Apparently not. Apparently he doesn’t want that.

Let’s fight, you’re a fighter. This is what we got into the sport for, to test ourselves.

For whatever reason, I am only reminded of that awesome Little Caesar’s Pizza commercial when reading Coy’s reaction. You know the one…

Dammit, now I just want to get super high and eat five dollar pizza until my intestines explode. Does that count as walking a mile in Riddle’s shoes?

–J. Jones

Matt Riddle Reconsiders Getting Real Job, Will Unretire at Bellator 109 Next Month


(Riddle’s “odd jobs” included stunt-work for the Dude, You’re Getting a Dell guy. / Screen-cap via mmanytt.se)

Last month, UFC veteran turned Bellator-signee Matt Riddle quit MMA in a fit of anger, vowing to get a normal job rather than put up with the constant frustrations of injuries and unsteady work in the fight game. Since then, Riddle has been sitting on his couch, taking giant bong rips and hearing from his non-fighter friends about what a pain in the ass it is to have a normal job. Unsurprisingly, he’s come to his senses.

MMAJunkie breaks the news that Riddle has unretired — throw a quarter in the jar, buddy — and is now re-scheduled to make his Bellator debut at Bellator 109, November 22nd at the Sands Casino Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Riddle’s home state. An opponent has not been named yet. As the Junkie article explains:

Riddle said “odd jobs” have been bringing some money in since his announcement, and he was prepared to keep earning that way if he stayed retired. But that’s not what he wanted.

“I know how to do stuff, so I was doing handyman stuff and making money that way,” he said. “But I’d rather make money in the cage. I really didn’t want to retire. I’m in my prime – I’m 27.”

And so, Bellator hangs on to one of their hottest prospects, and the world loses another handyman. Bittersweet, really.


(Riddle’s “odd jobs” included stunt-work for the Dude, You’re Getting a Dell guy. / Screen-cap via mmanytt.se)

Last month, UFC veteran turned Bellator-signee Matt Riddle quit MMA in a fit of anger, vowing to get a normal job rather than put up with the constant frustrations of injuries and unsteady work in the fight game. Since then, Riddle has been sitting on his couch, taking giant bong rips and hearing from his non-fighter friends about what a pain in the ass it is to have a normal job. Unsurprisingly, he’s come to his senses.

MMAJunkie breaks the news that Riddle has unretired — throw a quarter in the jar, buddy — and is now re-scheduled to make his Bellator debut at Bellator 109, November 22nd at the Sands Casino Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Riddle’s home state. An opponent has not been named yet. As the Junkie article explains:

Riddle said “odd jobs” have been bringing some money in since his announcement, and he was prepared to keep earning that way if he stayed retired. But that’s not what he wanted.

“I know how to do stuff, so I was doing handyman stuff and making money that way,” he said. “But I’d rather make money in the cage. I really didn’t want to retire. I’m in my prime – I’m 27.”

And so, Bellator hangs on to one of their hottest prospects, and the world loses another handyman. Bittersweet, really.

And Now He’s Retired: Matt Riddle Suffers Rib Injury Before Bellator Debut, Needs to Find Real Job


(Riddle’s doctor described the injury as occurring “right about in the toadstool-area.” Photo via Sherdog)

After getting fired by the UFC for a second positive marijuana test and ensuring that he’d never be back inside the Octagon by insulting Dana White’s business acumen and bald head, Matt “Deep Waters” Riddle was preparing to transition to Bellator later this month in a welterweight tournament quarterfinal against Luis Melo Jr. But thanks to another training injury, that fight’s not going to happen, and the TUF 7 vet says he’s stepping away from the sport altogether. As he wrote on Facebook last night:

I’m retiring from MMA today cracked my rib and can’t fight sept 20, Bellator said they can’t find me a fight till the next tournament and I can’t afford not fighting that long and need a job, sorry if I let anyone down but it isn’t paying the bills

Injuries have haunted Riddle’s professional career, which was spent entirely in the UFC. (Like his fellow TUF 7 castmate Amir Sadollah, Riddle only had amateur experience when he tried out for The Ultimate Fighter.) During his five years in the Octagon, Riddle had to withdraw from four scheduled fights due to injury and was pulled off of UFC 141 just hours before the event due to illness.

Making a living as a low-to-mid-level UFC fighter is hard enough when you’re fighting consistently. But if we’re going to talk about lost wages, we have to mention the fines and suspensions that Riddle received from his two separate positive marijuana tests, which he caught following his victories over Chris Clements (which originally earned him Submission of the Night honors at UFC 149) and Che Mills. Both of those wins were overturned to no-contests, leaving Riddle with a lifetime record of 7-3 with 2 no-contests, which would have been a more respectable 9-3 if he didn’t smoke so much damn weed.

Riddle’s latest setback was the last straw for him financially, and he’ll now try to enter general population and get a non-fighting job. (A “regular, you know, job, job-type job,” as Mr. Blonde would say.) But enough doom and gloom. Let’s look at Matt Riddle’s achievements…


(Riddle’s doctor described the injury as occurring “right about in the toadstool-area.” Photo via Sherdog)

After getting fired by the UFC for a second positive marijuana test and ensuring that he’d never be back inside the Octagon by insulting Dana White’s business acumen and bald head, Matt “Deep Waters” Riddle was preparing to transition to Bellator later this month in a welterweight tournament quarterfinal against Luis Melo Jr. But thanks to another training injury, that fight’s not going to happen, and the TUF 7 vet says he’s stepping away from the sport altogether. As he wrote on Facebook last night:

I’m retiring from MMA today cracked my rib and can’t fight sept 20, Bellator said they can’t find me a fight till the next tournament and I can’t afford not fighting that long and need a job, sorry if I let anyone down but it isn’t paying the bills

Injuries have haunted Riddle’s professional career, which was spent entirely in the UFC. (Like his fellow TUF 7 castmate Amir Sadollah, Riddle only had amateur experience when he tried out for The Ultimate Fighter.) During his five years in the Octagon, Riddle had to withdraw from four scheduled fights due to injury and was pulled off of UFC 141 just hours before the event due to illness.

Making a living as a low-to-mid-level UFC fighter is hard enough when you’re fighting consistently. But if we’re going to talk about lost wages, we have to mention the fines and suspensions that Riddle received from his two separate positive marijuana tests, which he caught following his victories over Chris Clements (which originally earned him Submission of the Night honors at UFC 149) and Che Mills. Both of those wins were overturned to no-contests, leaving Riddle with a lifetime record of 7-3 with 2 no-contests, which would have been a more respectable 9-3 if he didn’t smoke so much damn weed.

Riddle’s latest setback was the last straw for him financially, and he’ll now try to enter general population and get a non-fighting job. (A “regular, you know, job, job-type job,” as Mr. Blonde would say.) But enough doom and gloom. Let’s look at Matt Riddle’s achievements…

– He was the original Uriah Hall. Riddle’s knockout of Dan Simmler during the elimination round of TUF 7 was at the time considered to be the nastiest KO in Ultimate Fighter history, mostly because of the sounds Simmler was making afterwards.

– His 1,350 strikes landed in the UFC puts him at #8 on the all-time list, between Chael Sonnen (1,452) and Nate Diaz (1,343). Seriously. Matt Riddle of all people. And in terms of strikes attempted, my God, it has to be in the trillions.

– He once took first-place in a wrestling tournament that also included Jon Jones.

– He helped popularize the phrase “butter-toothed Brit.”

Good luck out there, Matt.