After almost three years away from the cage, Brad Riddell is ready to return to the UFC light weight.
Riddell, a former teammate of Israel Adesanya and Dan hooker's at City Kickboxing in Auckland, was once on an attack of the 155-pound Ladder on MMA's largest stage.
'Quake' set his striking bravery on full display on the way to a perfect 4-0 start of his UFC career. Riddell Drew Dober saw the last victory of that run on UFC 263 in the fight of the night.
But the New Zealander has not since then lifted his hand, with three straight defeats. Riddell was eliminated for the first time by Rafael Fiziev, before back-to-back submission losses against Jalin Turner and Renato Moicano.
And after the setback against the Brazilian in Madison Square Garden at the end of 2022, Riddell stepped away from MMA as an active hunter. Since then he has stayed in sport as a coach, in particular Conning Zhang Weili for her successful title defense on UFC 312 last February.
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Brad Riddell focuses on comeback almost three years after his last UFC fight
During a recent interview at the Southern Cross YouTube channel, Riddell repeated his plan to make a comeback this year and spoke about his long stint away from the Octagon.
The Kiwi striker revealed that he almost underwent a large hip replacement operation before the UFC stepped with an alternative.
“I have undergone hip surgery after Moicano,” said Riddell. “A few months later (fight) I went to Las Vegas and the UFC repaired my hip.
“I had had a lot of problems with my hip in Like, the last half of the year with my last two fights. The Labrum was just torn off, just completely hanging and always trapped in the joint. And there was a bit of bone that protruded that just scratched all the stall.
“There was a lot of time in the last year of my career where I was in a lot of pain,” Riddell added. “After that fight it was really, really bad. … In New Zealand they tried to completely replace my hip, which I found a bit crazy, because like a 30-year-old man to have a metal hip.
“I told the UFC and they were:” Come here and we'll see it. ” I went there and they were just like: “We will perform a pretty small operation.” … I was happy that I did not have to undergo an incredibly large operation and I was angry that they were trying to replace my hip in new Zeeland. “
After overcome that adversity and also undergone surgery to repair damage to his knee in Thailand, Riddell is ready to set up a comeback.
“You just e -mail the matchmaker and the contract person, tell them that you are healthy and ready to go, what I have done a few times,” said Riddell about the return process.
“I tried to get that matchup with Mason Jones, of which I thought it would be a great fight … (but) he is linked. I waited to hear about something.
“There is the next (map that I focus on) in August, which is just in the back garden for us in Shanghai. It is only a few hours away.”
Brad Riddell predicted that the 'itch' would come back
Although it has been in the making for almost three years, it seems that Riddell always expects that he would eventually resume his career as an active hunter.
While he announced his plan for an interruption immediately after his loss to Moicano, “Quake” said that he would stay on the sidelines until his fire returned.
“I'm going to get a good time in MMA until the fire comes back to compete. I don't perform close to my possibilities, and it is a dangerous task if you are not fully present.
“I have trained hard for 15 years, in and out of Kampen with not enough rest or balance and it has demanded his physical and mental toll on me. There has not been a year since I was 17 that I have not fought.
“I will continue to train and teach, but my energy that was all consumed by the sport will be aimed at my family. The itch will come back, but a long time is needed.”
Riddell's prediction apparently flourished, and with his “itching” back the Kiwi hunter will wait in the coming months for an assignment from the UFC matchmakers.