In an exclusive interview, I sat down with former TUF 7 contestant Matthew Riddle. We talked about his disdain for Mark Goddard, his feelings about the British, and who he wants to fight next.
(For the full interview check out the audio clip below.)
My first question was about what happened when he fought in Manchester at UFC 105, and he replied:
MR: I fought Nick Osipczak. He was a good fight, he still is a good fighter. I have no idea why he retired, but you know the fans weren’t too pleasant to me — they said nasty things to me, they spat in my face, even one fan pushed me outside the weigh-ins. It was really a shitty experience; it put a bad taste in my mouth about England, but I wanted to come back and redeem myself about my performance in 2009.
RB: I then asked him about Dan Hardy, who he originally called out, and whether he saw any similarities between him and his UFC on Fuel 7 opponent Che Mills. He responded:
MR: Honestly I do. They’re both really good strikers; the way they strike is completely different. Che Mills is more of a hard-hitting kick, one-two sort of fighter, good head movement, kind of hard to hit. He used to play soccer or football as well, so he kicks hard as shit. Honestly, I’m just excited to get in the ring with someone of his calibre.
Knowing that a win would make him undefeated in his last four fights (including the no contest against Chris Clements at UFC 149) I asked him who he would be looking to fight next, and he said:
MR: You know honestly I noticed John Hathaway over there sitting in the audience, and he actually hit me up on Twitter. And I’m not going after the English fighters; he hit me up on Twitter. I would’ve preferred to fight Hathaway than Mills, but I think the Hathaway fight will be very exciting, and I’m going to call him out after this fight. Hopefully we can do a little WWF action in the ring after I win on Saturday.
We next discussed Marc Goddard, who’s very well-respected around the British MMA scene, but whose refereeing style Riddle has been critical of in the past. He elaborated on his perspective, saying:
MR: You know, the problem is he plays into the crowd too much. It’s understandable when you hear the booing, but you know, the bottom line is it’s mixed martial arts, and when an athlete gets a takedown and passes someone’s guard, and they’re working in side control, a very dominant position where you can finish the fight, and I’ve seen him fights up from there, and I’ve seen him stand fights up when people have mount, and I’ve seen him stand people up from the guard when they’re raining down elbows. The problem I have is it’s mixed martial arts, not kickboxing. I could understand it in a Sanshou tournament.
For the full interview make sure to listen to the attached audio.
UFC on FUEL TV 7: Barao vs. McDonald is due to take place on February 16, 2013 at Wembley Arena in London, UK.
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Interesting