11 months ago
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SAM PATTERSON made his first walk to the octagon last March as a bonafide lightweight prospect full of confidence.
And who could blame him following nine wins in his last ten and an impressive contract-winning submission victory on season six of Dana White‘s Contenders Series in September 2022.
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GETTYPatterson no doubt envisioned the fairytale scenario of having his hand raised after another emphatic finish in his UFC 286 prelim clash with Yanal Ashmouz.
Instead, he was left contemplating only his second career loss after just 75 seconds.
Reflecting on his loss in an exclusive chat with SunSport, Patterson admitted: “I’d become very comfortable.
“I was more caught up in the moment of being home than I was thinking about the fight.
“Which, like I said, for years before the UFC I was travelling the world and fighting in opponent’s backyards. That was normal to me.
“And the fact of coming home and fighting in my hometown, feel I got caught up more in that spectacle than I did in the fight at hand. In hindsight, that’s probably what I take from it.
“I thought I’d do better coming home and fighting, but I think I do a lot better on the road travelling and fighting.”
Processing defeat in the biggest moment of his career was, understandably, difficult for the Team Crossface standout.
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He said: “It was bad. No one wants to lose. I’m a competitor, I love to win at everything I do.
“It was the dream scenario – going away and racking up all these wins and coming back to my hometown and fighting for the biggest organisation in the world, that was always the dream.
“It’s like a storybook, it would have been the perfect dream. So the fact it went wrong at the very end, it was like back to reality.
“And I think I needed that. Obviously, everybody who loses is down. If you’re not, then you’re in the wrong game because winning is what we all go in there to do.
“And like I said, I’m a serious competitor. Everything I do, I like to win. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise.
“But it is what it is. We’ve moved on from it now. It’s part of the game, you and you lose.”
Patterson didn’t lick his wounds for too long during his period of self-reflection and immediately got back to the drawing board.
And he has the opportunity to somewhat right the wrongs of the fateful March night at The O2 Arena early on Sunday morning at UFC 297 in Canada.
Standing between the 27-year-old and his first win in MMA‘s top promotion will be Quebec’s Yohan Lainesse – who he’ll fight at welterweight.
‘The Future‘ said of the Canadian: “He’s dangerous and he’s at a serious level. Obviously, everyone in the UFC is.
“He throws everything he’s got into every shot, if it hits you it’s gonna hurt you.
“He’s a big, big welterweight and I’ve prepared accordingly for that. But everyone in the UFC is.”
Most fighters who lose their octagon bow feel an overwhelming sense of pressure to get redemption for their setbacks.
That, however, isn’t the case for Patterson, whose sole focus is getting back in the win column.
He said: “I just want to get back to winning ways and on Saturday night that becomes reality.”
Watchers of the European and international MMA scenes know full well the display Patterson turned last year wasn’t a true reflection of his talent.
“Everyone around me knows that [people haven’t seen my true potential],” Patterson said. “Not even team-mates and stuff.
“Obviously, they’re biased and they’re gonna say what I can do.
“But even people in the game, coaches and people who have seen what I’ve done in BRAVE against the opposition I was doing it against.
“I think it’s very fair to say they haven’t seen anything yet.”
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