Matthew Riddle's big break in mixed martial arts came when he was selected as a contestant for the sevonth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series. Prior to that point Riddle had been getting a sizable chunk of his training through books and videotapes that he purchased, training in the evening in his apartment after working his job as a roofer. An exceptional athlete, the biggest benefit to Riddle's "TUF" stint was it afforded him the resources (and opportunity) to train properly and with a solid camp, first at Arizona Combat Arts and currently with Xtreme Couture. A hardworking, likable fighter with excellent athletic abilities, Riddle is a very solid prospect in the welterweight division.

Although he initially became known for his absolutely brutal knockout of Dan Simmler, that left his opponent writhing in pain with his jaw broken in three places, Riddle actually has a wrestling and jiu jitsu background and definitely prefers to take the fight to the mat then keep it standing. A former New York State Wrestling Champion, Riddle was also on an NCAA Division I wrestling scholarship at East Stroudsburg University (that he unfortunately lost when his wrestling coach got fired) before making the transition to the sport of MMA. That strong wrestling base, combined with his training at Xtreme Couture, size and strength have allowed Riddle to be very good at pushing the pace and constantly looking to get the fight to the floor. On the ground Riddle has displayed a suffocating top control game as he constantly stays active, smothering his opponents and showing excellent ground and pound potential. Riddle is very good at using a variety of strikes on the ground including knees to the body from side control, mixing in solid punches and also making excellent use of quick, powerful elbows from all positions (side, back, and from the top). Currently holding a BJJ purple belt, in the little time Riddle has spent on his back he's displayed quick hips as he actively looks for submissions, and has shown a very good ability to transition from submission attempts to sweeps (see bout with Dan Cramer). At twenty three years of age and just a little over a year into his professional career, Riddle shows the promise of developing into a good all-round grappler.

Quick on his feet, Riddle makes good use of the thai clinch and has already shown he has the ability to be very explosive standing with his heavy hands being well known. Riddle has also shown good hand speed, leg kicks and an improving technical striking game, which combined with his punching power makes for a promising standup game. Riddle is however still used to throwing one or two punches at a time, doesn't really put together many combinations and was getting picked apart on his feet by both Steve Bruno and Nick Osipczak. He'll definitely need to continue working on refining his overall techniques but has displayed the natural, raw physical tools necessary to develop into a competent striker.