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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.)

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.)

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.

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.)

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.

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)

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.

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)

– 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.

Get Lifted: UFC Raises Marijuana Threshold for International Events, Nick Diaz’s Unretirement Surely Imminent

Man…Bryan Caraway is gonna be piiiiiiissssseeddd when he gets word of this little development.

You might not have heard about this, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel was held in Las Vegas over the weekend, and among the primary issues discussed was that of the acceptable threshold for marijuana metabolites in a given fighter’s system that the UFC currently allows, specifically on an international level. You see, since the UFC usually acts as its own regulatory body in foreign countries, an issue has recently emerged regarding the discrepancy between their acceptable level for metabolites — 50 ng/mL — and the newly-deemed acceptable level of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) — 150 ng/mL.

Fortunately, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner revealed during the panel that the promotion’s threshold will now be raised to meet the level of WADA’s. He spoke with MMAJunkie, then presumably passed one to the left hand side:

“When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150. So we’re starting that immediately.”

Ratner also told MMAjunkie.com the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission – or Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) – which regulates UFC events in Brazil, has also agreed to the same standard and will make the change at next week’s UFC on FUEL TV 10 event in Fortaleza. Brazilian commission officials later confirmed their decision.

You may be asking yourself, “What exactly does this threshold change mean for UFC fighters moving forward?”

Man…Bryan Caraway is gonna be piiiiiiissssseeddd when he gets word of this little development.

You might not have heard about this, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Steroid and Drug Testing Advisory Panel was held in Las Vegas over the weekend, and among the primary issues discussed was that of the acceptable threshold for marijuana metabolites in a given fighter’s system that the UFC currently allows, specifically on an international level. You see, since the UFC usually acts as its own regulatory body in foreign countries, an issue has recently emerged regarding the discrepancy between their acceptable level for metabolites – 50 ng/mL — and the newly-deemed acceptable level of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) — 150 ng/mL.

“When we self-regulate around the world, we are going to go the WADA standard of 150. So we’re starting that immediately.”

Ratner also told MMAjunkie.com the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission – or Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA) – which regulates UFC events in Brazil, has also agreed to the same standard and will make the change at next week’s UFC on FUEL TV 10 event in Fortaleza. Brazilian commission officials later confirmed their decision.

You may be asking yourself, “What exactly does this threshold change mean for UFC fighters moving forward?” Well, the basic idea is this: By raising the threshold to 150 ng/mL, the UFC is aiming to catch fighters who use marijuana in competition, rather than the days (or in Pat Healy’s case, weeks) before a fight.

Somewhere out there, Matt Riddle is beating his kids in a fit of bitter rage.

While the debate over whether or not marijuana should even be tested for in the first place continues to rage on, the change suggests a shift in mindset regarding marijuana’s place in combat sports in general. It’s also one that Ratner hopes the Nevada State Athletic Commission will adopt in the near future as well:

I want to commend the committee. This goes along with the UFC’s thinking, as well as my own, that we’re moving progressively to the future, and times are changing.

As for the ongoing TRT debate? Well, the commission is trying to work that out as well, proposing a decrease in the acceptable T/E ratio amongst fighters from 6-to-1 to 4-to-1. No comment.

–J. Jones