Matthew Riddle on MMA: 'I don't want anything to do with it'

Matthew Riddle has had it with MMA. He’s fed up, disgusted and more than a little bit pissed off with the sport he’s dedicated himself to since 2008.

And so at 27, and after five years as a professional, the former UFC fighter is calling it quits. At least for now. And the most surprising part of this sudden career move?

“Honestly, it wasn’t even that tough of a decision,” Riddle told MMAjunkie.com.

To hear Riddle tell it, his retirement has a lot to do with a cracked rib and a rigid Bellator schedule. After being released from the UFC following his second positive test for marijuana in less than a year, Riddle signed with Legacy Fighting Championships. Shortly thereafter, his contract was purchased by Bellator, which planned to feature him in its welterweight tournament, set to kick off later this month at Bellator 100.

But after the rib injury forced him off that card, Riddle said he was told that he’d have to sit out the rest of the year with no paycheck. And that, said the former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor, was something he simply couldn’t afford to do.

“When Bellator bought out my contract they said, ‘We’re family, we take care of our own,’” Riddle said. “But then I crack a rib two weeks out from a fight and ask for an extension, like Joe Warren got, and I get told no. Then I ask if I can fight before the end of the year and I get told no on that. I’ve got three kids, man. When they bought me out of the Legacy contract, that was back in May. They kept me on the bench from May until September. I got hurt for September and now they say they can’t get me a fight until January or February. The bottom line is, I’ve got a wife and three kids. I’ve got bills I have to pay.”

Riddle said he told Bellator that without a fight before the end of the year, he’d be forced to retire and seek employment outside of MMA.

“[Bellator] knew that for a fact,” Riddle said. “I said it to them (Monday). I told them that if I couldn’t get a fight by the end of the year, I need to retire and get a full-time job. They were like, ‘Well, we can’t [get you a fight].’ Really? Viacom can’t? Bellator can’t? OK, I guess I need to retire then.”

According to Riddle, financial concerns are only part of the reason he’s hanging up the gloves now. He made an average of about $50,000 a year fighting in the UFC, he said, which isn’t bad but also isn’t terribly lucrative considering the sacrifices – both physical and otherwise – he had to make to get to that point, Riddle noted.

“I’ve had multiple surgeries,” Riddle said. “I get cut open, I’m in pain, and I can’t even pay my f—ing bills. People know who I am and I’m on TV all the time, but I can’t pay my f—ing bills, so who cares? What kind of sport is this? What’s the point of being in it if you can’t even make money? Especially a sport where you get torn open, get brain damage and bleed? And then people give me s–t because I’d rather retire and get a real job. At least that way I’ll get a check every week and not worry about someone trying to cut my face open or knock my f—ing teeth out.”

As for whether his use of medical marijuana – not to mention the career opportunities those failed drug tests cost him over the years – played a part in his retirement? On that, Riddle remains ambivalent. On one hand, it cost him his spot in the UFC, though he insists that “no commission ever took a dime” from him over post-fight drug tests.

On the other, with commissions like the one in Nevada recently tripling the allowable threshold for marijuana, it seems likely that the sport’s attitude toward Riddle’s drug of choice is about to change just as he’s announcing his departure.

Of course, as is typically the case in situations like this, it’s about more than any one single issue, Riddle said.

“People think it’s for glory, but the glory isn’t there. I like to fight. That’s who I am. But getting stitches isn’t glorious. Not getting paid isn’t glorious. Watching other people drive Ferraris isn’t glorious. So f–k it. I don’t need it.

“You get hurt and can’t fight? Nobody cares,” Riddle added. “They just stomp on you. People get on their keyboards and talk s–t about you. Even if you’re in the top 10, top five in the world, people talk s–t about you. It’s a trash sport, people trash us all the time, we don’t get paid s–t and it’s like you lose one fight and people say you should quit fighting anyway. Why would I want to be a part of that? I’m tired of it.”

So what will he do now? He has options, Riddle said. He’s not worried that turning his back on fighting will leave him destitute. And, who knows, he admitted, “In a couple years I might hop back into it, but right now I don’t see the benefit.”

He’ll keep watching the sport as a fan, he said. He still appreciates all that fighters go through and what they do in the cage. It’s the other people in the sport that he’s soured on.

“I’m just tired of the unethical people, the scumbags, all that,” Riddle said. “Maybe that’s how all businesses are run, but in MMA I’ve been in the UFC, Legacy and Bellator. The UFC was the best, and even they didn’t treat you that well. It just gets sh–tier on the way down. I’d rather get a real job, do some [jiu-jitsu], get my black belt and compete in some tournaments. And maybe I will fight in a year or two. But right now I’m so fed up with the people that run this sport, I don’t want anything to do with it.”