Former WWE Champion & UFC Fighter Could Be Making MMA Comeback In 2024

A former champion in WWE is hinting at making a big splash in a return to MMA.

In the past, we've seen pro wrestlers transition into the world of MMA. Of course, there was current WWE Raw superstar CM Punk, who had two fights under the UFC banner. There's also been the likes of NJPW legend Yuji Nagata transitioning into MMA.

In this case, one former WWE champion was actually a decent fighter on the UFC roster, and he may be making a comeback.

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Former WWE United States Champion and two-time WWE Raw Tag Team Championship holder Matt Riddle is eyeing a return to pro MMA competition. This is despite the fact that he is the current NJPW World Television Champion.

Riddle recently appeared in-studio for an episode of MMAFighting.com's "The MMA Hour." During the show, Riddle told Ariel Helwani that he's received quite a bit of interest in dabbling into combat sports once again.

Matt Riddle says bare-knuckle and MMA promotions reached out to him after his WWE release.

"I would love to step back in the cage or ring at some point."

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“I got hit up by a couple people [in the fight game],” Riddle said. “I got hit up by bare-knuckle boxing, and I got hit up by, I believe, someone from PFL, I think it was a Dan Lambert, and he told me to message somebody — or some kind of messages went by and they asked me if I was interested, and I said I’m definitely interested. Just, the fight’s got to be right and the money’s got to be right.

“I haven’t heard back since, but to be fair, I’ve also been wrestling non-stop and doing that, because honestly, when it comes to money, it’s guaranteed money and I show up and it’s there. But I would love to step back in the cage or ring at some point. I want to do it at the end of 2024. I would love to.”

Riddle joked that while he doesn't want a total jobber in his first MMA bout since 2014, he did say he would like to fight someone manageable given the amount of ring rust he could experience.

Now that he's no longer under WWE contract, Matt Riddle won't be prevented from mixing it up in the cage again.

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