Matt (talking to Phillip): I wanna be here, dude, I wanna make it to the merge. This quote is a Kiss of Death. There is no way Matt makes the merge. This is the third straight episode where Matt's weakness gets focus. On Survivor, it's common to have a boot during the episode when something negative is brought up for the third time or someone's storyline builds over three episodes.
Matt's also being shown with a very short-term strategy bordering on desperation. He was desperate to win challenges, so he was willing to weaken his majority alliance and go to the minority alliance based on their challenge strength. Then we're shown his physical weakness with the view of his feet. And his comment to Phillip is about making the merge, not making any sort of long-term commitment that would suggest he's thinking endgame.
Weakness + desperation + short-term focus = dead meat pre-merge.