Bellator welterweight Matt Riddle last night announced his retirement from mixed martial arts on Twitter, citing the fact that a broken rib will keep him out of his scheduled fight on Sept. 20 and that, since Bellator can’t give him a fight for the rest of 2013, he can’t afford to keep fighting. This news came out of the blue and I’m still digesting it as I honestly don’t know what to make of the situation. On one hand, this is just another instance of a Bellator fighter saying they have been mistreated by the organization. I mean we honestly hear this every week, and the sad thing is no one seems to really care. I honestly think it will take one of the bigger personalities in the sport to really change this pattern, but everyone seems afraid to speak up. On the other hand, Riddle is a guy who screwed himself out of an awesome gig with the UFC after he flunked two drug tests for marijuana and was cut. But while he was with the UFC he was always known as a guy who was willing to throw hands and was always involved in a potential “Fight of the Night” candidate each and every time he stepped into the cage. Who knows if Riddle will actually stay retired — fighters say they will retire all the time and then announce they aren’t retired a few months later — but for now he is and we all salute him for a very entertaining fight career if this is indeed the end of Riddle, the mixed martial artist. Nunes vs. De Randamie Added To Fight For The Troops 3 UFC announced yesterday that Amanda Nunes and Germaine De Randamie will clash at Fight For the Troops 3 this Nov. 6 at Fort Campbell, KY, in a pivotal fight as far as the rankings in the women’s 135lb division go. Nunes made her Octagon debut at UFC 163 and picked up a dominating TKO win over Sheila Gaff, while De Randamie won a split decision over Julie Kedzie at UFC on FOX 8. With Nunes being known more for her ground and pound and De Randamie being more known for her Muay Thai attack, this is a very interesting clash of styles and it’s just another example of Sean Shelby’s underrated matchmaking skills. It’s a tough fight to call but my initial lean is De Randamie, provided she works on her takedown defence as Kedzie was surprisingly able to get her to the mat and almost steal a judges’ decision with her top control. Since De Randamie trains at AKA, you’d have to imagine that Javier Mendez, Daniel Cormier and the other coaches there are drilling her on her defensive wrestling for this fight, and if she does indeed keep the fight with Nunes on the feet she will have a clear advantage and that’s why I see her a slight favorite entering this contest, one that should be a whole lot of fun for the fans.
