IFL Dragons’ welterweight, Claude Patrick, is at home in Mississauga, just outside of Toronto. He’s been hanging out after finishing training for the day when I ask him if he was nicknamed ‘Prince’ after the title of the book by Nicolo Machiavelli?

“Ah, you’ve done a bit of research then. It had a little something to do with that, but pretty much because I always thought I was a better-than-average fighter. And I have trained with elite fighters, such as Georges St. Pierre and David Loiseau. I used to live in Montreal and train with them before moving back to Toronto,” says Patrick.

And through an impressive MMA career that already boasts a 6-1 record, Claude has been living up to the better-than-average standards he imposed upon himself since taking up a fighting art 27 years ago, as many other kids his age did.

“I think I started with karate at thirteen, pretty much like everybody else – Go Ju karate. My parents signed me up for three months, then I took up Muay Thai and jiu jitsu, and I’ve been doing them ever since.”

Although Claude was born in Canada, he is also regarded as a Jamaican. “That’s my family’s background. I was actually born here in Canada, but my parents were from Jamaica, and I’ve always thought of myself as being the premier Jamaican fighter of mixed martial arts. I pride myself on that.” 

Claude, the only fight you’ve had that went the distance was the one you lost by decision. All the others you’ve won in the first round: Are you a fast and explosive fighter?

“No, I just take the opportunities as they come. Not to make excuses about that bout (Claude Patrick vs. Andrew McFedries), but it was my second fight and I wasn’t very experienced. I went up there overconfident to say the least. I was at school at the time and they called me up and asked me if I wanted to fight. I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll fight.’ I always wanted to.

“I knew nothing about cutting weight, so what I was doing was drinking coffee to dehydrate myself, then going to the sauna, checking my weight and drinking more coffee. I was also doing six hours of exercising, plus running. I felt all right the next day, but wow – come the second round, I was thinking about Star Trek reruns – hallucinating. (laughs) What a fight...

“It was a great learning experience and I am happy to have shared it with Drew, who turned out to be a really cool guy. He’s now doing quite well in his own regard, actually picking up his first win in the UFC against Allesio Sakara recently.”

You seem to be a true mixed martial artist who is happy to win standing or on the ground – is that the case?

“Yeah, you can’t determine where the fight goes. I think that’s one sign of weakness that’s going to be phased out of the game pretty soon. When guys are known as stand-up or ground fighters, then usually their opponents have the opportunity to avoid that area. You want to be able to take your opportunities as they appear – and make them anyway you can.

“Look at Kevin Randleman: He knocked out Cro-Cop (PRIDE: Total Elimination, 25 April, 2004) in round one of their first fight: The opportunity was there, he threw the punch, and he got the win. So you’ve got to be ready when the opportunity presents itself in stand-up or on the ground.”

As well as training with Georges and David, do you train with the other Dragon members and Carlos Newton?

“I actually haven’t trained with Georges for some time, because I moved to Montreal to train with him for eight months, last year. So primarily I train with Carlos, Wojtek Kaszowski, Mark Bocek, and a lot of other people who don’t compete in MMA but are at a high level of their individual sports, like wrestling and boxing. I really focus on developing my individual skills.”

Is Brent Beauparlant a bad influence on you?

“A bad influence? (laughing) Brent is as nice as apple pie, and a really good wrestler.”

You’re locking horns with Chris Wilson on February 23. That should be a great match-up for fans to look forward to, shouldn’t it?

“Every one of my fights I like to think of as something for people to look forward to. And I don’t avoid fights: I’ll fight standing or on the ground, and I’ll bring the action. I think I have a pretty good idea of how to take him out though. I have a very good idea of how I’ll fight that fight.”

Will Chris want to keep it standing?

“Oh, yeah; he’s certainly going to want to keep it standing: All the previous fights he’s won, he’s fought on the stand-up level. He’s not really known as a ground fighter, and his primary losses have been by submissions on the ground by guys who I think have not been as good as I am on the ground. I’m sure he’ll try to counter my taking him to the ground, which is fine – I’ll be ready either way.”

Claude, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I’d like to thank the people who have helped me get to where I am today. For a long time there wasn’t a big following of MMA in Ontario – it was kind of a grassroots movement, and now with the IFL Dragons being based here, it’s good to see the support for MMA slowly building up in Ontario.

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