Former bomb technician Matthew Allison says exciting fights no accident: 'I'm no stranger to danger'
"Matty Ice" promises another explosive appearance when he returns to action at CFFC 133 on Friday, July 26.
Matthew Allison may be just one year into his run as a professional fighter, but he's already developed a reputation as an all-action bantamweight looking to push the pace from the opening bell, regardless of the risk he may face.
Given his background prior to fighting, serving as a bomb technician in the United States Marine Corps, perhaps that seeming aversion of fear should be no surprise.
"I'm no stranger to danger," Allison said. "I've always kind of lived a chaotic life, so I burned the candle at both ends, baby. I work hard, I fight hard, and every now and then, I party hard, so it's all good."
Coming from the Gracie Tampa, and Gracie PAC gyms in Tampa, Allison is surely surrounded by danger with very skilled teammates and coaches helping him on his journey – most notably his coach Billy Quarantillo and teammates Matt Frevola, as well as William Rentz, who is fighting alongside "Matty Ice" at Friday's CFFC 133 event.
Additionally, Allison's connection to Frevola gives him a plethora of additional training partners, giving him no shortage of good looks in the gym.
"I train with 'Billy Q,' that dude is allergic to boring fights," Allison said. "If you're training with him everyday you think he'll say, 'Let's just set up our gym to fight 0-7 fighters'?
"I'll train with guys like Aljamain Sterling, maybe Marab Dvalishvili. When Frevola comes down, who's going to be in your face all the time? Matt Frevola is going to be in your face all the time. 'Billy Q' is going to be in your face all the time. We got a lot of killers on the team. If you look at the lineup, we're shoving Gracie Tampa and Gracie PAC guys. We come from a very deep pool of fighters."
Allison (2-1 MMA, 1-1 CFFC) now looks to prove that he's an exciting fighter on the level of those famous training partners in his showdown against Bimysola Attobra (2-2 MMA, 0-0 CFFC), which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Tampa's Florida State Fairgrounds.
Allison states he does not look at his opponent's name when he is offered a fight and will always want to compete, regardless of the matchup. With that said, once he had an opportunity to scout his upcoming foe, Allison offers no disrespect towards Attobra from his side, praising him as a very worthy opponent.
"He's game," Allison said. "I have a lot of respect for this guy. He brings that forward pressure. He brings a lot of power. He uses big explosive entrances to get you down and get to your back. When he's on you and on top, it's hard to get him off. That kind of stuff excites me. I don't want to fight some guy I'm just going to walk through. As far as my opponent goes, I've got all the respect in the world for this guy."
Allison's expressed motivation to fight the absolute best fighters available again demonstrates his core mentality and willingness to push himself to the limit, as well as his love to compete and fight inside the cage.
It's that passion for pressure situations that had many feeling this matchup could easily steal the show at CFFC 133.
"I'm promising you right now the crowd's going wild during my fights," Allison said. "This isn't any, 'Let me just sit around and wait in the middle and play touch butt.' This is like, 'People are getting f-cking hit. They're getting taken down. They're getting mauled.'
"I definitely think it's getting slept on, man. Put some respect on both of our names."
