The internet fan base of mixed martial arts that reads blogs and news sites on a daily basis is going to hate the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter show no matter what.

These aren’t concrete facts, but they are most likely to be true if you read this article a year from now. I probably wouldn’t because it will fall under what most MMA posts end up being – dull highly opinionated talking points over matters that only a small concentrated percentage of the fan base care about. I mean, look at blogs these days. Blogs I do, in totality, respect even. Evan Tanner? My neighbor doesn’t care about Evan Tanner. It’s cool that you are such a fan that you care if Tanner makes it back to a certain level, or writes a MySpace note, but is he really worth debating about? How about the goofiness of DREAM of World Victory Road? Couldn’t we all just post on one site that everyone agrees to send new hardcore fans to a note reminding them that Japanese MMA and Pro Wrestling are closely related, less sports and more entertainment, and controlled by the mafia of that country? I mean, I’ve read this stuff for years and frankly I don’t care about any of these guys unless they’re fighting live on my TV with an issue that might make me want to pay for it if it’s not free.

Which brings me back to the original point - once every 4-5 days I’ll shoot through this blog and the headlines on RSS feeds of many others. I rarely read any of the articles anymore. I’ve stopped reading newsletters as well. The amount of relevant information and debate can be consumed in a five minute sitting in a week. Here it is for you:

-The UFC makes millions upon millions of dollars from Spike TV for producing TUF. They use it to promote new unknown fighters, of which they’ll sign several, to contracts that will barely total a fraction of what Spike pays in rights fees. So UFC is a business, and they make money. MLB, NBA, and the NFL do the same thing.

-A percentage of new fans are made from this show and then buy UFC PPVs. They are promoted heavily during TUF, and there is usually a coaching tie-in on the show for an upcoming fight. Those PPVs on average get over 500,000 buys at between $45-55 per buy. Major companies also pay to sponsor both the PPV and the Spike show annually.

-TUF makes money for UFC by itself. TUF makes fighters names to the casual fan, who makes up a huge percentage of UFC paying customers and doesn’t know any MMA media exists. Everything feeds the business and locks out other MMA from gaining a foothold. It’s a branding thing.

There ya go. Someone post this on a blog, and then commit it to memory and erase it. It’s as irrelevant as most of the talking points that get batted around day in and day out. Blogs are like the UFC shows. There are too many UFC cards in a year, but it’s done because they make money. Blogs could probably get away with posting one daily update and maybe one op-ed a week. They don’t because the more they get read that much more if they separate it all. So UFC and say, Sherdog, really aren’t that different.

See you in a month.

Apparently Riddle, who trained at Team Russel Jiu-Jitsu before moving to Rat Pack Fighting Systems where he was currently training, had some news to share:

I’m probably going to train with (fellow castmate Mike) Dolce and all those guys at Team Quest North and then with Rampage at Big Bear (Calif.) with the high altitude and stuff to get ready for my fight… Rampage and I got along very well. I got along with Juanito, too, and all the coaches. They still call me to see what I’m doing.

The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise if you think about it. Riddle really needs to be training with other top caliber fighters like his friend from Team Quest and ex-IFL fighter, Mike Dolce along with Rampage and his friends at Big Bear. The surprise comes at how Riddle hints about his treatment from his friends at Rat Pack Fighting Systems.

Here’s the first part of the quote:

I don’t know what the deal is with the place I’ve been at here. I’ve been here like four months, and all the sudden I’m like their poster boy, but it’s about to end. I’m having a meeting tonight, and I don’t care if you put this in there, but I’m telling him off. It’s like they’re trying to use me. Yeah, it’s probably smart on their part because it puts them on the map, but they could have gone about it differently. I feel like I’m being taking advantage of, and I don’t like that.

Wow, talk about burning some bridges. While I don’t know the extent of the mistreatment that Riddle apparently suffered, it’s always discouraging to hear a fighter publically issuing a negative comment about a current or past fight camp before resolving the issue privately.

You can read the rest of the interview here to learn about Riddle’s finale fight on June 21st along with some thoughts about his knockout of Dan Simmler.

It doesn’t matter where you train - if you want it, you can get it.

While other fighters are training at Top Team, Serra’s BJJ Academy, and Team Quest, Riddle reminds us that he trains out of Palmerton, PA at Rat Pack Fighting Systems. And with his performance last night, you can clearly see that while a professional training team may help a fighter, it’s certainly not what makes a fighter.

It was a great bout between the trash talker and “Chipper”. The veteran fighter from Lousiana, Tim Credeur, was talking a lot of trash before the fight as he touted his long record in the sport. “The Answer” took everything in stride and merely laughed Credeur off as someone who only had five years left in the sport with a lot to lose. We last saw Riddle break Dan Simmler’s jaw in multiple places and nobody in the house knew what to expect. Both fighters made weight with Credeur talking more trash at the weigh-in as Riddle continued to smile on.

The fight went almost two full rounds with Riddle and Credeur trading on the ground and standing evenly throughout. Riddle took advantage of his wrestling abilities as he swept Credeur at will throughout both rounds, but was slightly edged on the ground. Coming out into the second round, we saw Riddle explode and nearly take off Credeurs head repeatedly with a nice punch kick combo. What’s funny is that Credeur said Riddle’s previous fight was just a lucky fluke, yet Riddle dominated while standing and showed much better form. Credeur was able to use his Black Belt Jiu-Jitsu to pull off an arm-bar over the Blue Belt riddle before the end of Round 2 as he nearly gassed.

Although Riddle’s coach, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was not upset with Riddle, he did say he was disappointed. We also learned that Credeur is indeed the supposed top guy on Team Forrest. The preview of the next show highlights Rampage as he rips through his fighters, but if Credeur is the top opponent, I don’t see Team Rampage having too much trouble throughout the rest of the season.

The Ultimate Fighter - Season 7 - Fighter Interviews - Matthew Riddle

The Ultimate Fighter - Season 7 - Everything to Lose - Matthew Riddle Confessional

Juanito Ibarra was in your corner for the fight, what did he tell you to do?
“Box like a Southpaw.” I’m a Southpaw and I only got like two minutes with the corner guys and they were like “what’s your style?” and I was like “I’m a wrestler and jiu-jitsu guy with heavy hands” so they said “box like a Southpaw.” So that’s what I did and you can see that it worked out for me.

The first round went back and forth, how did you feel after that round?
I felt fine. I wasn’t used to the dryness in the air in Nevada so my lungs were burning. So that kinda affected me a little bit at first. At then I came out and just started throwing bombs and I caught him with the first one and just laid him out. So, it worked out.

At the premiere party, members of Riddle’s family were congratulating him, including his mom.

We asked Mrs. Riddle what she thought about her son being on The Ultimate Fighter and she was extremely proud of her son. When asked whether she was worried about him getting hurt, she paused, smiled, and then politely said no.

Matt then chimed in and claimed that he first began wrestling in third grade, but left after the first practice because he didn’t want to hurt anybody. “I left practice because I didn’t want to hurt my friends. “Then a few years later I started wrestling, did really well, started fighting and as you can see, I’m doing well,” he exclaimed.

He then complimented his claim with a typical Matt Riddle smile that you will be seeing a lot of throughout The Ultimate Fighter.

His mom talked more about supporting him while he started his fighting career and how his family stands behind his fighting career 100%. His went on further to talk about how proud she was on her son and that no matter what would have happened, he still would have been smiling the entire time.

I was then able to get one final question for the interview.

What did Forrest and Rampage say to you after you knocked Dan Simmler out?
Daaaamn!

There you have it. Matt “The Answer” Riddle after his spectacular knockout of Dan Simmler on episode 2 of The Ultimate Fighter 7. Good luck to Matt and let’s hope Dan makes a full recovery as well.

If you want to train with Matt, check out Rat Pack Fighting Systems in Palmerton, Pennsylvania. You can reach Rat Pack by calling 610-377-3329 or on their website.

According to Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology, when faced with a Grade 3 concussion:

• Transport the athlete from the field to the nearest emergency department by ambulance if still unconscious or if worrisome signs are detected (with cervical spine immobilization, if indicated).
• A thorough neurologic evaluation should be performed emergently, including appropriate neuroimaging procedures when indicated.
• Hospital admission is indicated if any signs of pathology are detected, or if the mental status of the athlete remains abnormal.

Dan Simmler talks on the NHB forums and thanks to Cage Potato, you can quickly find it here. Nobody wants to see anyone get badly hurt in the cage and it looks like Simmler will fully recover. A lot of people want to see Simmler vs. Riddle 2 and considering both fighters live 60 miles from each other, it could happen. But, enough of that, here’s what the Serra Jiu-Jitsu fighter had to say:

So that wasnt as bad as I thought, I honestly didnt remember much. I found it kind of funny actually that I had no idea where I was.

I dont remember the flying whatever that was, I think triangle, and I dont remember anything else pretty much either.

The fiirst thing I remember was at the hostpital. So, I have a deviated septum in my nose, cant breath good at all with out a breath right strip, I had one on and right before my fight, I was told I couldnt wear it. I wasnt given a good reason, just that I couldnt, so as a result, I was breathing through my mouth the whole time, that just made things worse when I got hit. My mouth was wide open and I broke my jaw in three places. two on the left, one on the right. It was very painful to say the least.

One week after I got home to the day I decided I was going to train “Light” with a student, and I took his back and he pushed off and his head smashed me under the jaw with the back of his head, rebreaking the jaw. The hostpital is literally across the street from the school and I was kept over night and had surgery the next day. They put two small plates, 4 screws and wires back to keep it shut. For a little over 7 weeks I had nothing but shakes and tomato soup. It was horrible. I lost about 20 lbs and now I am waiting to get the ok to spar and get back to the grind. Ill be back and do better.

I am sorry that I couldnt have done better, I was happy to get it over with and see what I did and what mistakes I made and where I can improve. Thanks for the support.

Hopefully Dan is back up and training already. Good luck!

Going back a couple years to 2006, Matt Riddle begin his MMA experience at Jay Russell Jiu-Jitsu in upstate New York. After moving from New York to Pennsylvania to live with his family and train locally in April of 2007, he placed 2nd at the NAGA World’s in the Expert Division. Next came NAGA’s Battle at the Beach where Riddle took home the belt in the mens no-gi Expert division along with a win at Grapplers Quest, and at the Copa Atlantica BJJ tournament. While Riddle was winning these tournaments, he was still a white belt with less than two years of jiu-jitsu experience. He recently won his first amatuer MMA fight with a keylock at the “Battle of the Sun II” before trying out for The Ultimate Fighter in Newark, New Jersey where he was selected to be a part of the show.

Not only has Riddle gone further than most fighters in only 8 years, he also doesn’t train at a large regional facility hosted by a big name UFC star or a well-known trainer. Instead, you can find him in Palmerton, at Rat Pack Fighting Systems. MMA Opinion sat down with Matt Riddle tonight during the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Season 7 to discuss his past, training with a Gracie Black Belt, and his move from junior high school wrestling to Division 1 wrestling.

So you started wrestling since eight grade?
Yea I started in 8th grade, kept wrestling in high school and went to nationals and then wrestled in Division 1 at ESU [East Stroudsburg University].

What made you start wrestling in the first place?
I was just messing around with my friends, ya know? Then I found out that school had it and it just went from there.

How has your ground game changed since you have been training with Renzo Gracie black belt, Brian Miller?
I already had my own style of jiu-jitsu. I was already at purple belt level. I was getting in better shape and rolling with a lot more people and sparring a lot more for fighting. I don’t think anything has changed - nothing with technique, just sparring partners.

You went from being a big fish in a small Pond here in Palmerton to training with guys fighters like Mike Dolce…
Mike Dolce, Brandon Sene, Gerald Harris, C.B. Dollaway. All great dudes - All American wrestlers. Paul Bradley is an All American Wrestler. And whoever wasn’t a good wrestler or grappler was a good striker. I just can’t wait; it’s going to be a good show. I can’t wait to watch it.

So tell me about the fist time you got humbled?
Humbled? I don’t get humbled! (laughs)

What about the first time you hit a brick wall?
The one thing I will say about the competition out there. I could basically handle anything that they handed me, I’m a pretty good natural athlete and I have really good technique. The only thing was the athleticism and the fact that I was dealing with high caliber wrestlers like myself; Division, All American, State, and National champions. That was the only difference. The jiu-jitsu and striking was more like what it is, if I can use “what it is.” (laughs)

Did it take a day or two to reset yourself – to push further?
Yea, when I first got out there, the first couple days, the All Americans with the takedowns were like throwing me around. Because I go so light at practice they were messing me up. Then like two days later I was like “I’m not taking this shit anymore” and I started dominating them.

Did living in a house with no connection to the outside world change your training mentality?
The only difference is before a fight when you got nerves, you can normally calm it with TV, video games, internet. You can talk to your family and friends. When you’re out there, you can’t talk to anybody, you just gotta fight. It’s good, you know, it’s good. It helps you in a way and it doesn’t help you. It’s like a positive and a negative.

Did you make any lasting impressions out there in Las Vegas?
People will not forget my name after this season. (laughs)

Did you notice any natural rivalries?
I won’t be surprised if by the end of show if everyone in the house wants to mess me up. I would not be surprised. (laughs)

Now that you’ve returned, what part of your game do you most need to work on?
The biggest part of my game that I’m missing right now is experience in the cage. Other than that my athleticism, my grappling, my striking, everything is top notch except I need to get more time sparring and fighting in there. And that’s it and that will get better with time.

How about your diet? Did you change anything?
Before, about a month out, I definitely go on a more high protein diet and I still eat carbs, but I hold off on all the junk food. More natural, whole grains, lettuce, meats, and it just flushes me out and I lose a lot of weight.

So how did you end up finding Rat Pack Fighting Systems?
Actually I was still training at Jay Russell Jiu-Jitsu and my family lived here and I was basically chilling out here for a holiday, for Christmas and wanted to roll and I looked it up on the internet, for places in Pennsylvania, local areas. It came it, I trained there - liked it. And then my roommate and I had a falling out and then I had to come down because I was out of money because I wasn’t working and my family supported me until I got where I am now.

Many thanks to Matt Riddle for taking the time out on a very busy day to talk with us. Good luck, Matt and thanks to Rat Pack Fighting Systems for hosting a great premiere party!

To learn more about what Matt Riddle had to say about his first fight on the show, check back tomorrow for the second part of the interview only at MMA Opinion. Matt will soon have his own blog online as well. Keep checking back and we’ll post up a link.

It seems, though, that people care more about revitalizing the heavyweight division then they do about the lightheavyweight season starting next week, and I can hardly blame them. It has nothing to do with Forrest Griffin and UFC champion “Rampage” Jackson being any less than absolutely hysterical television personalities and everything to do with the cast list. Despite the new 32 fighter format, which I think it going to be great because, ideally, it will give us more fights, the UFC has gone to immense length to expand a roster that, by my count, has 4 fighters with losing records and 2 that are batting .500, not to mention the 10 guys that are either unlisted or have yet to make their professional debut.

I’m not saying that this season isn’t going to be interesting, because I think that it will be. I’m not a reality show fan, and tend to record episodes so that I can watch the training in the gym and the fights, as well as the occasional shit talk between the coaches, but I’m a little skeptical about a show that offers what I see as offering a huge roster, with only 11 prospects. This, frankly, would have made a great season of the show, if they had just stuck to 16 guys. Still, I could always be wrong about who the real warriors on the show are.

I’m not convinced, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the site, that TUF 8 is going to solve the UFC’s heavyweight woes, and I wish that they had dedicated an entire season to the big men, but I understand as much as anybody that the promise of lightweight fights will balance the potentially slow action of the heavier fighters, as it did on TUF 2.

Still, I’ll be watching this season closely because it gives me an opportunity to watch fights, and I’ll never deny myself that.

The guys I’ll be watching the closest:

Paul Bradley (5-0, 2 TKOs, 2 Submissions)

Steve Byernes (6-1, 6 Submissions)

Dante Rivera (10-2, 3 TKOs, 5 Submissions)

Tim Creddeur (9-2, 2 TKO’s, 7 Submissions)

Nick Klien (3-0, 3 Submissions)

Mike Marrello (7-1-1, 5 Submissions)

Aaron Meisner (2-0, 2 TKOs)

Luke Zachrich (7-1, 3 TKOs, 4 Submissions)

I’d also like to note that, unlike alot of other seasons, there are many great submission fighters in this house. Byernes and Rivera are the two that I think are going to be the most interesting, but there are other guys that have a handful of interesting, tapout victories.

It will be a fun season to watch. I only hope that it’s not overshadowed by the fear that the UFC is procrastinating on dealing with the heavyweight problem. Hopefully the UFC brass’ actions over the next few months can easy those worries and we can really watch the fights to see some interesting up and comers and the inevitable pathetic athletes that slip in.

All that’s left to do is wait and watch.