Matt Riddle, a former star of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), has expressed openness to a possible return to the world of MMA. Although it’s been quite a while since Riddle was active in mixed martial arts, he doesn’t rule out coming back to the cage.
Riddle’s stint as an MMA fighter lasted from 2008 to 2014, during which he managed to achieve a winning streak of four fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He even competed for Titan FC, demonstrating his versatility as a martial artist.
In a recent episode of the “Barstool Rasslin” podcast, Riddle mulled over the prospect of making a comeback to Mixed Martial Arts. He remarked, “I’m still wrestling, but I’ve also been considering fighting again, I still got it in the tank. I train a couple of times a week and I think I’m just waiting for the right time and opportunity because I’m still wrestling so much. I’m in such demand with that, it’s kind of hard to like separate that.”
He further added, “So I’m kind of just waiting for the wrestling to start to fade a little bit…I train to be in good shape, to do my job professional wrestling, where I feel like with fighting there’s a lot more to it, like say certain parts of your body I’m going to have to recondition again so I don’t like feel like I’m being crushed.”
Detailing his past experiences, Riddle referred to instances where he had accepted UFC fights on less than two weeks notice. He is certain that he could be successful once again given proper training and conditioning.
The WWE released Riddle from his contract in September 2023. This happened during the initial phase of talent releases that came after the formation of TKO Group Holdings.