This weeks episode of The Ultimate Fighter 7 highlighted a nasty knockout during the Matt Riddle/Dan Simmler fight. While the first round of the fight went back and forth, the second round ended quickly and in scary fashion. After heading out of his corner to touch gloves, Riddle caught Simmler with a vicious right hook and dropped him where he was able to land three more punches before Herb Dean could stop the fight. While Simmler lay unconscious and moaning on the canvas, the camera panned across the TUF 7 fighters. Solemn faces saw something they may never see in the cage again, a Grade 3 concussion. Symptoms include loss of consciousness for any amount of time and amnesia of more than five minutes. When Simmler awoke, he had no idea he had just fought on The Ultimate Fighter in Las Vegas.

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.

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Few people have ever visited the small town of Palmerton, Pennsylvania. Situated in the mountains of the northeast region of the state, it’s home to The Ultimate Fighter’s newest sensation, 22 year old Matt “The Answer” Riddle. While Matt Riddle isn’t the only fighter from the show to come out of a small town, he certainly comes out with a big mouth and even bigger actions to back his words up. If you watched the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter, you saw Matt Riddle deliver one of the most brutal knockouts in the show’s history. A knockout that Quinton Jackson called “knockout of the century.” The young fighter, however, is probably one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He’s always smiling and more than willing to help anyone learn jiu-jitsu at the facility where he currently trains.

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.

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