After growing up in the San Francisco bay area of California, Matt joined the U.S. Army where he began his involvement with martial arts as a boxer. In 1988 after leaving the military he returned to the USA and began training in Jeet Kune Do (JKD). This began an intensive immersion in BJJ, which included training under Rickson, from whom he received his blue belt in 1992, and later training under Chris Haueter, who subsequently awarded him purple, brown and black belts in BJJ.
