Making a name for myself
Fighter is out to prove there’s only one Paul Patrick
“There’s only one Paul Patrick”will be the chant from his supporters in Grangemouth next month.
And the Perth Mixed Martial Arts star is out to prove that point when he takes to the cage for his fourth professional fight.
Confusion has surrounded the Fair City resident’s online record due to an American fighter having the same name.
But the 34-year-old, a former St Columba’s High School pupil, wants to show he is the real deal.
The Perth plumber faces Glasgow’s Scott Mulgrew on June 3 after two years out of action. And it’s a date Patrick is hard in training for. “This other Paul Patrick needs to retire,” he said. “He’s taking all my glory!
“I keep seeing his name online and thinking it’s me. But it’s some guy over in the States. Hopefully he is keeping the name reputable but there is only one Paul Patrick.
“I’ve not fought for two and a half years. I got injured and I’ve been a family man and also run my own business.
“I got offered the fight against Scott Mulgrew, who is a really good all-round fighter. I couldn’t turn that one down.”
Patrick, who is encouraged by the high standard of fighters locally, believes he still has plenty left in the tank and will head into the fight with confidence.
He added: “I won bronze at the British Judo masters so thought maybe I’m not ready to retire yet. I’ll see where it goes.
“Grappling is the kind of thing you can do all of your life, but with MMA there is a certain time frame before the punches and elbows to the head start to take there toll.
“We have a good group of martial artists in Scotland. There are clubs opening up with some really good coaches.
“Perth itself has some really good fighters. Ryan Lyall is helping me with my conditioning and I’ve been going up to Perth Railway Club to help them out and vice versa. I like to keep my hands quick.
“So there is a lot of talent coming out of Perth. Although I train in Dundee out of Dundee Mixed Martial Arts, I always use the Perth clubs.”
There has been a visible rise in the popularity of MMA in recent years, with UFC helping to raise the profile on a worldwide level.
It’s an exciting sport for the crowd and Patrick will be hoping to send his loyal bunch of supporters home happy.
He said: “UFC has been around since the 90s but with the likes of Conor McGregor it’s really come to the forefront.
“But there were loads of great fighters before him, my favourite being Georges StPierre.
“There are Scottish guys in the UFC now. Robert Whiteford was the first one and then there is Stevie Ray.
“UFC had taken off so I thought I quite fancied giving MMA a try.
“I booked myself a fight down in England and had no real training behind me. It was
A large crowd from the Fair City is expected in Grangemouth to watch Paul Patrick fight an amateur fight and I ended up winning.
“It evolved from there. As soon as I felt that cage against my back I was hooked. It’s not just two thugs in a cage, it’s very much an art in itself.
“I usually take a loud crowd through and for my pro debut at Kelvin Hall I took about 60 people, who got their own write up.
“I’d like to thank John Gillespie Hairdressing, who has sponsored me from the start, Stevie Graham joiners and Trev’s House of Tattoos.
“And also the coaches at DMMA, Perth Railway and my wife Danya and girls Louise, Nicole and Sophie. My family are very understanding. It’s good having them there.
“I always love the support and it brings Perth together.”