Last Saturday February 1st, 2020 Western New York Mixed Martial Arts and Integrity member Derrick Patterson fought at Full Contact Productions Rage in the Cage against Canadian Dylan Mcllvenny. The fight went all three rounds and didn’t end up going our way. There is always more to the fight then a win or loss so in the words of Paul Harvey (google him, I grew up listening to him every day) here is the rest of the story.
Derrick is coming off back to back cancelled fights. Two fights ago Derricks opponent didn’t get his blood work done on time. (New York State requires all competitors to be blood tested for communicable diseases. His opponent didn’t get the correct test, there are several tests required and quite often either the doctor or the lab messes up the Hep C antigen test. 99 percent of the time if there is a bloodwork problem the dr. checked the wrong box on the lab sheet, or the lab ran the wrong test. So, after Derrick made weight, he found out that he wasn’t going to be able to fight.
Derrick and his opponent agreed to run it back at the next show. Everyone’s medicals were in and we were ready to get the show on finally. Three weeks out Derrick injured his finger and knuckle. He got it x rayed and had a fracture. He was going to fight anyway and pushed himself hard at practice dealing with that pain in every drill he did. Two weeks in I thought we were going to be able to fight, but during his weight cut he injured his hand again. Although he still wanted to fight, he was not able to pass the pre-fight physical and was disqualified from participating in the show.
Back to the drawing board and three back to back camps with no fight. Derrick accepted a fight against Dylan even though we couldn’t find any tape and basically going into the fight blind. Derrick didn’t complain about it and I am not making excuses for him, but he struggled through camp with the finger. We didn’t do much pad work at all since it hurt his hand and concentrated more on takedown and grappling defense.
No excuses need to be made before the fight Derrick looked as good as he ever has in Practice. Derricks best assists are his elusiveness on the feet. Of everyone I train with he is one of the only fighters that make me feel like I can’t hit them and make me feel uncomfortable on the feet. His cardio, as anyone that comes to our cardio class Sunday’s can attest is second to none.
His biggest weakness has always been takedown defense and submission defense. We worked cage work, get ups and attacks and sweeps on the ground. Derrick didn’t miss practice, does whatever the coaches ask of him. We also worked on putting muscle and size on between the fights.
On a personal level I have always been impressed by D. He is a mature young man, smart, reserved, hardworking, and responsible. He started coming to Integrity early on and is one of the original members. I was impressed enough by him to get him a job where I work. We have spent a lot of time together over the last couple camps and I am proud of him.
To understand the kind of guy he is we were cutting weight together at LA-Fitness the day before weigh-ins. We had just weighed in before we started the sauna. I went to throw his scale in my locker, and it shattered into a million pieces. Anyone that cut weight knows how important it is to have a good scale with you and how testy you can get. I apologized he didn’t say anything just got in the sauna. I sent my wife to get us a new scale and we finished the cut together. Not once did he punch me or even give me any shit about it during the process.
On Fight night A bunch of Integrity members came out to support him and it was great to see. A huge goal of mine with Integrity is to make it a family. To watch the members truly care and root for each other honestly and with compassion is great to see. Those who didn’t make it messaged to see how he did, and to check up on him post fight and during the week.
I wrote about the fight in the write up previous to this (If you missed it you can keep up to date with all my write ups at www.cavemans-corner.com) All three rounds were pretty much the same but I will give a quick run-down of the rounds.
Round one: Both men start out circling testing the range and reactions of each other. Dylan landed an overhand and drove D into the cage looking for a takedown. When D stuffed it and turned him off the cage, I thought for sure we were going to win. Derrick took the center again but was pushed against the cage once again. D got put on the floor and mounted but avoided any damage as the round ended. 10-9 Dylan
Round two: Derrick throws a body kick and is driven into the fence. They pummel on the cage for a minute or so and derrick uses a spladle to turn him on the fence. Dylan circles him back against the fence. They exchange knees against the cage and D is able to separate. D lands a left gets the body lock and deposits Dylan on the ground and lands 2 big shots as the round ends. 10-9 Derrick
Round three: D started getting the better of the stand up and was driven into the cage. Derrick is pushed on the fence again and finally gets a dominate tie up lands a knee and the separate. They exchange on the feet and D ends up taken down and mounted again the clapper goes. Derrick is giving it all he has to escape. The round ends with Derrick mounted 10-9 Dylan.
Derrick took the loss very hard. One take down different in the third round and I think we win that fight. Derrick was disappointed that he didn’t represent himself well, but I think he fought well. We have just a few things to clean up and that is an easy win. When you put everything, you have into fight and draw some of your self-worth from the results a loss is devastating. I was personally proud of him. He proved all the faith I have in him is justified. While I am not happy that he lost and feels crappy, I am happy he does feel bad. It is the mark of a champion and what drives us all to be better.
The integrity crew gave him some love after the fight, and we are hoping he is there beat us up some Sunday.
