THE CHAMP IS HERE
Integrity has its first champion. Derrick Patterson won the lightweight K-1 kickboxing title at FCP’s Rage in the Cage 14. We have had a lot of people competing using Integrity as a supplement for training. He will be the first of many. If you want to be the best you need to test yourself and our members test their skill every Sunday. Those that are interested in being the very best test it in competition.
Derrick Patterson trains out of WNYMMA during the week and Integrity on the weekend. Derrick is a regular in both gyms. He is exactly what a fighter should be. Derrick is a great man with great character. He comes to every class and always gives his very best.
Most people when they read that think he works hard every class. He does do that, but every fighter does, working hard is the easy part of fighting. He drills and acquires skills to make himself a better fighter. Derrick understands sparring over and over does not make you better without learning new skills and improving. This is something even middle level pro’s never get in their head.
Leading into the fight we watched tape together worked on Lunch and Sunday’s sharpening what we were going to do in the fight. Derrick came out and performed just like he did in preparation for the fight. If you are follow fighting you know how hard that is to do.
Most people are better in the gym then they are in the cage. It takes a great amount of preparation and mental fortitude to fight at your best with everyone watching and another trained man trying to separate you from your conciseness. Even more impressive is that Derrick fought a full weight class up. In fact, he was eating ice-cream the night before to keep his weight high enough to fight at lightweight (155 pounds). On top of that his opponent had beaten a teammate that normally fights 2 weight classes higher than Derrick.
With the odds stacked against him he performed at the highest level he has to date. He was elusive, accurate and by the end of the first round had his opponent second guessing his life choices. Derrick looked like the fighter he is for the first time. He came out sharp and did not sit on the lead going into the third round. There is a reason he looked the sharpest out of everyone that fought. I would like to lie and say it was Integrity here, but I cannot. He performed so good because he searched out found the best training environments for him, He prepared his mind and body for the fight by continuing to put himself in uncomfortable places in training.
Derrick is one of the best kept secretes in the #716. Covid has slowed his ability to demonstrate the leaps and bounds that he has made since his early career. His record is not the best since he started fighting before he had all the skills necessary to survive and thrive in the cage. Derrick is going to show the world is one of the highest-level featherweights (145 pounds) in this area and will be a great pro coming out of Buffalo. I am proud to say I train with Derrick.
