A couple new interviews - Matt Riddle, Drew Mcfedries

**franz_grinder** · Posted On: 7/17/2008 1:09pm

http://www.topgunmma.com/viewArticle...rticleID=10513

Matthew Riddle looked much improved against Dante Rivera at the TUF 7 Finale, after spending some time training with close friend, CB Dollaway.
Matt took a moment to chat and reflect on how he was portrayed on the reality show, the KO, Jesse Taylor's rampage and more.

Transcript below:

Franz: How's it goin'? How is everything?

Riddle: Everything is pretty good, just relaxing after my fight and taking care of some things.

Franz: Would you say your life has changed a lot since your stint on the Ultimate Fighter?

Riddle: Ya, since the show my life has definitely changed. I am a professional fighter and people always recognize me when I go out, stuff like that. It's pretty cool, pretty life-changing.

Franz: I was talking to CB earlier and he was saying that his character was a little warped by the editing process. I was wondering if, maybe you feel that you had been inaccurately portrayed at all by the TUF editors or if you feel like you were accurately portrayed?

Riddle: Yea, actually they did me really well. I talked a lot. I was just myself the whole show. It worked out for me. But CB is definitely not like the way they made him look like on the show. They made him look pretty arrogant and he's really not.

Franz: When you walked into that tough training center, was it obvious to you what was going on, that everyone was 185 lbs and you were going to have to be fighting them? Did you know what was up?

Riddle: When I first got to the gym?

Franz: Ya

Riddle: A couple of the guys were already talking about how there might be a bracket to get into the house. A bunch of guys from Team Quest were there and a bunch of guys from American Top Team and schools were talking to one another and they kinda figured it out. It was a little surprising, but I kinda assumed.

Franz: Then you went on to have that bad ass fist fight. When he was KO'd and down in front of you like that, did that make you feel uncomfortable?

Riddle: A little bit. This is the thing they don't show. He was knocked out for a good period of time before he started moaning. He was out for a good 15 to 25 minutes before he actually woke up and that's when he started moaning. They show me scream, and I'm all happy, and they show him all moaning. That's not what happened. He was out cold. I was excited I got a knockout and he just wasn't awake yet. Then when he woke up he started moaning. His jaw was broken.

Franz: Have you ran into him since?

Riddle: I actually did. I saw him at TUF 8 tryouts. I was there with one of my friends who was trying out. He was there with some guys from Matt Serra's school and a couple of their guys were trying out. I saw him there. His jaw was still wired up pretty bad.

Franz: After that, you had your fight with Credeur. You had him down and out, at one point. You had even rocked him. You got on top of him. Do you regret taking that fight to the ground? Do wish you just kept it standing or forced him to stand back up?

Riddle: Now I do, yes, because I think I had him on the feet pretty well. I'm pretty sure I would have got him. I didn't realize how good Tim was at jiu jitsu. Nobody really told me. I just thought he was a black belt. I've beaten black belts before, like in grappling tournaments and stuff, so I assumed I could just beat him in the fight. I regret taking him down. The big thing I regret is going for a twister. I go for the twister in the second, he gets the mount on me and then just arm-bars me.

Franz: Now do you think you would be able to handle him a little better these days because when you got your chance to fight Dante it looked like your control had really improved?

Riddle: I'm definitely in a lot better shape now. I started training with other professional fighters. So I actually got good workout partners and everything and my game has definitely gotten a lot better. I think if I fought Tim now, I'd do pretty well.

Franz: Dante, I noticed he fights a pretty defensive fight. I mean, he doesn't put out a lot of offense, just holds on. Do you wish you would've scored the finish on him? Was it hard to finish Dante?

Riddle: I probably could have TKO'd him in the second but I went for that arm-bar and then he reversed me. So I made that mistake, but then I almost got him in another arm-bar.

Franz: Did you happen to get a better vantage point on that whole JT rampage, because I'm hearing a lot of different stories and CB didn't get to see a lot of it? Where were you when that all happened?

Riddle: I was in the limo with JT when he did that. It was me, JT, Dana and a couple girls. We were holding him down and he just kicked out the window and ran out the limo and then he got into trouble.

Franz: Wow, so he didn't just lean back and kick out a window, you guys were holding him down? He was raging for some reason or another.

Riddle: He was going nuts! He got kicked out of the club at Pier. Security didn't want to deal with JT or anyone else. They just asked us to get JT out of there, so I was like OK.

Franz: I wouldn't want to deal with JT either.

Riddle: Then we got him outside the club and he was like flipping out. We told him we got kicked out. That's why we left and that's how that all went down.

Franz: Have you moved out of your Mom's house to train out west now?

Riddle: Ya, I live in Arizona now, got my own little house. It's pretty sweet.

Franz: Do you plan on getting your license soon, now that you moved out west?

Riddle: No, I don't have my license but I have the ability to get one now.

Franz: Well that's good news.

Riddle: I'm probably going to get one pretty soon.

Franz: So do you have a contract with Zuffa now?

Riddle: I believe so. I had to go get my hand checked out and stuff. I mean, I talked to them. I haven't talked to them about my next fight yet, because I have to get my hand X-ray'd and stuff still.

Franz: Well thanks a lot. Anything else you would like to say? Anyone you want to thank?

Riddle: MTX Audio and Arizona Combat Sports

__________________________________________________ _______________________

Franz Grinder is an amatuer fighter, writer and journalist. Check out his interviews and articles only here at TopGunMMA. Have questions, comments, or suggestions? Contact Franz via E-mail at tjensen@topgunmma.com or just find him in the tgmma forums.

**franz_grinder** · Posted On: 7/17/2008 1:10pm

http://www.topgunmma.com/viewArticle...rticleID=10515

Exclusive Interview: Drew McFedries

How's everything going?

Going good, Taking some time off to relax after the big fight.

It was a short fight against Eastman, what are your feelings regarding the fight? Did you get a chance to properly display your skills?

No... I feel that I haven't had a chance to properly display my skills in any of my matches. They never go past the first round. My fight with Kampman was good, even though I lost. I got taken down there. But my boxing looked crisp and I had a chance to really play around with it.

Was this your biggest win to date?

You know, I don't really feel as though any fight is different. I'm not going to say that one fighter is a better win than another and talk any fighter down. I'm really not interested in that type of trash talk. Now I did get myself a little amped up for the Eastman fight, but he was saying all types of stuff about me.

Just being in the UFC is really winning, I feel like I'm winning all the time.

Now let's go back to the Cote fight, You were going through a lot at the time but you still took that fight and came out to brawl, do you feel that your emotions affected your performance at all?

Yah, I feel like I wasn't all there. I never really had a chance to get level. It was a rollercoaster with the Radev win and than what happened with the loss. Not to take anything away from Patrick at all, he caught me and had me down. But, I feel like I was still there.

That Ref, Herb Dean... I think he was at a weird angle and to him it looked like I was in a lot more trouble because he couldn't see how relaxed I was and that I was defending - he was hitting my hands and my arms; not my head. Again, not to take anything away from Patrick.

But yah I do feel like I wasn't all there for the Cote fight and it really had me focused. And with this win it really has come full circle.

With that Eastman win being televised have people recognized you at all?

Yah sometimes, but it's still at a point when people in my own home town don't recognize me.

Has the UFC signed a new contract with you?

After the Cote fight we had already started to work out the contract so by the time I fought Eastman I had three more fights.

Have they informed you of your next opponent?

No, they really don't tell me that until about a month out.

So, do you train the same way and approach every fight the same way, because that doesn't really allow you a lot of time to adapt your training?

Yah, I pretty much train everything anyways and I train just as hard most of the time.

I will train a little more ground if someone is a good ground fighter or a little more stand-up, but I definitively do not change my game.

That's interesting; the main event fighters sometimes get almost a damn year to train for a fight?

Yah, you get two different fighters training for 4 or 5 months out and you're going to have a spectacular fight. The UFC definitely does this for a reason.

Training at Miletech I guess you can bet on always being ready for everything?

Yah, that's what I think. I fight every guy the same way. I'm reactionary and I use my wrestling mostly for defense; than I'll attack with my boxing. I just like to get out there and feel it out once I'm in the fight.

I've been fighting for a long time and some of these reality TV guys come into the UFC asking, "where is my house?"... "where is my car?". I feel blessed to just be in the UFC and win or lose I feel like I'm always winning.

Yah watching guys like you and Pulver fight you can see that you don't break, you just go out there and fight.

Yah, you know, me and other fighters talk about stuff like this. We used to go out and fight 4 guys in one night for free. And this was only 10/15 years ago.

Really?

Oh yah, you didn't get paid for it and everything was a tournament. We would all drive down together and fight in these tournaments.

Yah, well I never see you counting points out there. But you could if you wanted, you box very well. And both you and Pulver can wrestle a lot better than people know.

Like I said, I use my wrestling for defence and to get my range and distance.

You know, if you watch Jens last fight against Faber you can see that he`s underneath him squirming into a little ball fighting and escaping. He`s really good on the ground.

The dangerous thing about fighting a guy like Jens is that he just needs one punch and he knows it. So he likes to get in there and bide his time. He`s dangerous at all times, but Faber is just doing so well right now. I mean the kid is so fast and strong.

Is there anything else you'd like to say, anyone you'd like to thank?

Firstly thanks to the UFC. Thanks to Tapout, those guys have always been real good to me. Thanks to Warriorwear as well - they've also been good to me. Other than that thanks to my family, friends, and training partners.

__________________________________________________ _______________________

Franz Grinder is an amatuer fighter, writer and journalist. Check out his interviews and articles only here at TopGunMMA. Have questions, comments, or suggestions? Contact Franz via E-mail at tjensen@topgunmma.com or just find him in the tgmma forums.

**noonyez** · Posted On: 7/18/2008 11:23am

[quote=franz_grinder]http://www.topgunmma.com/viewArticle...rticleID=10513

Riddle: I was in the limo with JT when he did that. It was me, JT, Dana and a couple girls. We were holding him down and he just kicked out the window and ran out the limo and then he got into trouble.
[/qoute]

Dana was in the limo at the time?