Odd. Bellator says it doesn’t want UFC castoffs to fill their ranks, yet half their upcoming season 9 welterweight is filled with — you guessed it: UFC castoffs. Personally, I don’t mind. Those were Bjorn Rebney’s words, and I’m perfectly fine with seeing Matt Riddle take on Paul Daley , Douglas Lima, Ben Saunders or any other combination of the killer’s row that is in the circular Bellator cage.
If you need a reminder, two out of three of Riddle’s last three wins have been overturned to no contests due to marijuana in Riddle’s system. We don’t need to turn this into a marijuana discussion, there’s been too much of that lately already, but the guy would be 9-3 and climbing up to a fairly decent UFC ranking with his newfound takedowns and dominating top control of his opponents. Riddle used to be nothing more than a brawler, now he’s finding ways to win if plan A or B don’t work out, that’s respectable. Maybe marijuana taught him to deduce situations and and work through problems? I dunno.
Either way, Riddle is headed back to Spike, who made him a star in the first place on TUF 7, and frankly, I like him in the tournament. I think he’ll make for some good competition.
Thanks to MMAJunkie for the scoop.
