Claude Patrick signs UFC contract

A couple of weeks ago I started hearing a rumour that IFL vet Claude Patrick was going to the UFC. Patrick confirmed to me – off the record – that he was in negotiations with the promotion. Now, it’s a done deal.

The Toronto welterweight, whom I’ve had the pleasure of training with a few times at Toronto BJJ, has a four-fight contract in his back pocket. Patrick is 11-1, with nine first-round stoppages to his credit – eight of them by submission. Yes, he’s dangerous on the ground.

Now we just need to confirm another rumour – that his first fight will be at UFC 115 on June 12 in Vancouver. Also rumoured for the card are the threematch between Ultimate Fighter coaches Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama; Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Pat Barry; Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel; Tyson Griffin vs. Evan Dunham; and Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald.