Start date with CBR: 
        Since the beginning

        Job Description: 
        “Try to control the bull long enough for the rider to dismount safely.  If bucked off, I try to make
        myself a better target than the rider.”

        Education – School: 
        Nashville Auto Diesel College in Nashville, TV

        Background/Qualification: 
        Matt has been fighting bulls for 17 years.  8 times CBR Finals Bullfighter, 2003 CBR Bullfighter of the Year,
        4 times X-treme Bulls Finals Bullfighter.

            Personal Information: 
            “I love fighting bulls at CBR’s because I love to watch rank bulls buck.  It’s a bonus when somebody rides one.”

            Family: 
            Wife – Kristy, Son – Eli (aka Bubba), Cowdogs – Sissy and Lulu
 

Professional bull fighter Matt Baldwin of Sylvania, Alabama, has been
fighting bulls for the CBR, since the association's first event in 2002. He
has worked almost every CBR event since then, and his proudest moment
is winning the 2003 CBR Bullfighter of the Year Award.

Baldwin's passion for the profession is evident as he describes how he was
inspired to be involved in rodeo from the time he was a little kid growing up
in Georgia. "I love bulls. I grew up with them. I've been around them my whole
life. I've worked for several people taking care of them. I'm fascinated with them.
I just like being around them. I've wanted to do this every since I was a little bitty
kid. I always knew I would do something with bull riding. I got on my first bull
when I was eleven and it just went from there. I wasn't a great bull rider and I always
managed to get wrecked-out. But I loved that feeling of being out of control. Now
I get paid to be out of control," he stated.

While bullfighting constitutes as his primary profession, his "hobby" keeps him in
shape and busy when he is not on the road. Baldwin is now the full owner of his own
construction company that focuses on commercial and residential framing. "That is more
of my hobby, while bull fighting is my job. Bull fighting always comes first. But
construction work helps me to keep in shape for the arena. I don't sit in the office by
any means," said Baldwin. He says it helps to be in shape to fight bulls professionally -
primarily in order to get over injuries. But he also stays limber for the job. "I also do
a lot of stretching. I think it is important to be limber. Because those bulls can wad you
up and put you in some unnatural positions," he said.

"The best way to fight bulls is through intuition. You've got to be able to read what
those bulls are going to do before they do it, so you can slip in there and be in the
right spot at the right time. Another thing that helps is to know when that bull rider
is in trouble and when he is about to hit the ground. That way you can get in there
at just the right time to get the bull's attention without inter-fearing with the ride,"
explains Baldwin.

Baldwin and his wife hope to expand their involvement in the bull riding world by
raising bucking stock as well. He just purchased his first four cows and hopes to add
to the herd soon.

By Julie Hinz

To Contact Matt go to: www.myspace.com/alabamabullfighter