Fired former UFC star who Dana White publicly slammed and called ‘weak-minded’ recalls awkward meeting with former boss

Matt Riddle says he was left confused by his encounter with Dana White after he was released from the UFC

In 2013, Matt Riddle was released from his UFC contract after failing his second drug test of the year, having tested positive for marijuana.

The former cast member on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ would have been on a four-fight winning streak if it wasn’t for two of his wins being overturned due to the test results.

Later on in the year, Dana White appeared on FOX Sports and publicly slammed Riddle’s actions after the former UFC fighter had criticized the promotion in the media.

“The reason he’s not in the UFC anymore is because he could not pass a drug test!” White passionately explained. “The guy couldn’t pass a drug test. And think about this, you have to go to work three times a year and you couldn’t pass a drug test? You’re so weak-minded.”

In a recent interview on TMZSports’ Inside The Ring, Riddle was clearly open to talking about his relationship with the UFC president, stating, “Oh, bring up that bald b—- Dana.”

Riddle recalled how he did cross paths with White shortly after his exit from the promotion, where he was left confused as to why there was so much animosity coming from his former boss.

“Actually, after I got released, I went to the MMA awards and I was presenting an award… Dana was there and I was going to say like hi, what’s up. He made sure not only to like barely look at me, but he mean mugged me. He was like p—– that I was even there.

“I’m like dude, you fired me. I had to sell my house and restart in a new journey of professional wrestling. I didn’t mess your life up, you messed my life up. Granted, I’ll take responsibility, I mess my life up all the time. But, at the end of the day, I don’t get the hatred.”

Matt Riddle believes that the WWE and UFC combining wasn’t good for his career

After competing in his final MMA fight in 2014, Matt Riddle dedicated himself to professional wrestling where in 2018, he was signed to the WWE.

While Riddle still actively wrestles in several promotions, his run with WWE ended in September of 2023 following several issues outside the ring.

The former UFC fighter is still optimistic about potentially returning to WWE at some point down the line but he worries whether his two former homes now being under the same roof might cause issues with that.

“Don’t get me wrong, with WWE, I don’t think I was on good terms with a lot of people, but I really don’t think the merger of TKO and the UFC helped that relationship whatsoever.”