Coach Matt is a lifelong athlete, playing football in high school as well as running track, competing in hurdles. As a police officer, he was required to go hands-on in the field often. Most of the fights led to a "pig pile" where a whole bunch of cops all try to jump in and arrest the suspect with little knowledge of how to control someone on the ground. With MMA becoming more mainstream with the release of "The Ultimate Fighter" TV show, more suspects began to exhibit and understanding of technical ground fighting. It was a wake up call to start training himself.

Coach Matt began his BJJ journey in 2008 with some Marcelo Alonso black belts at work. They followed a lot of the techniques that Erik Paulson used in his CSW program which included stand up and ground fighting. He also developed skills in boxing and Muay Thai. He began training at Foster BJJ in the Spring of 2011 and has been a dedicated member of the team ever since.

Coach Matt continues to train because he believes he's only scratched the surface of his BJJ journey and knows there is always so much to learn. He likes the camaraderie that comes with being part of a BJJ team. He teaches our 10:30 am Thursday BJJ class.