One to Watch: Alan Patrick vs. Stevie Ray | FIGHTLAND

Alan Patrick (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)

Another weekend, another UFC show. This week the UFC circus rolls to Ginasio Nilson Nelson in Brasilia, Brazil—the nation’s capital city—for the second time.

UFC Fight Night: Cyborg vs. Lansberg (otherwise known as UFC Fight Night 95) is headlined by a catchweight bout at 140lbs between Brazil’s darling Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino and Sweden’s Lina “Elbow Princess” Lansberg in the latter’s UFC debut.

The show is punctuated by interesting bouts throughout. Former UFC bantamweight king Renan Barao takes on TUF alum Phillipe Nover in the former’s relatively-new home in the featherweight division. There is a decent heavyweight scrap between the pot-bellied Roy Nelson and one-time conqueror of Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. Paul Felder vs. Francisco “Massaranduba” Trinaldo is another interesting bout in the lightweight division. However, the contest between former Brasilia dweller Alan “Nuguette” Patrick and Scotland’s Stevie “Braveheart” Ray is the one which really catches the eye.

Headlining the UFC Fight Pass preliminary fights, Patrick vs. Ray is a lightweight bout of high importance to both men. With each combatant boasting a last name which could easily serve as a first name (that’s always fun) and three UFC wins during their respective stints in the promotion—Patrick with a 3-1 record compared to Ray’s 3-0—victory in this fight could propel either man to the next level under the UFC banner.

Brazilian jiu jitsu blackbelt Patrick made his name in Brazilian-based promotions Bitetti Combat, where he was lightweight champion, and Jungle Fight, amassing an undefeated record of 10-0 before getting the call to compete on the UFC roster.

Patrick went 2-0 in the UFC with a TKO win over Garett Whiteley, before winning a controversial unanimous decision over the durable John Makdessi—a decision which all major MMA news outlets had disagreed with in their scoring. The Brazilian’s sole loss came to scrappy Russian Mairbek Taisumov, who defeated Patrick by TKO following a headkick. However, Patrick bounced back from that defeat against promotional newcomer Damien Brown via unanimous decision.

Ginasio Nilson Nelson, in Brasilia, Brazil (Photo by Luis Dantas/Wikimedia commons)

Saturday night will be an emotional night for Patrick, who had a tough decade of street living in Brasilia. With a tough childhood put well behind him, Patrick is looking forward to closing his chapter with the city. “I am very happy to return to a place that’s part of me and my history,” Patrick told MMAjunkie. “The biggest hardships I had in my life were in Brasilia. No opponent will give me the difficulties that place has given me. So I’m very happy to be back in a different situation. It will be memorable and very meaningful.

“They called me (and asked), ‘Nuguette,’ have you ever been to Nilson Nelson?’ Never. Never been in there. I lived in that city for 10 years, but I never set foot in there. Now I can step in there, in the biggest stage in the world, as a star of the show. It’s very important to me, like closing a cycle. I won at life, and now I’m here to win again, and to show that nothing’s impossible. If you dream and work for it, nothing’s impossible. It would be perfect.

“Before, when I walked by, the car windows would go up. People would be startled. Women would hold on to their purses. Now, it will be the opposite. I’ll walk by, and people will open their purses, take out their phones, a bunch of flashes. It’s something very crazy that I never could’ve imagined.”

Stevie Ray with the Scottish flag (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC?)

Scotsman Ray will be walking into an intimidating atmosphere when taking on Patrick with a hometown crowd behind him. The Brazilians give a tough time to any foreigners taking on their countrymen as it is, but this is an opponent for Ray who once hailed from the city and has been on the receiving end of some harsh words from Braveheart.

Ray was highly successful on the European MMA circuit before making his UFC debut in 2015, winning the inaugural BAMMA lightweight title and the Cage Warriors belt on two occasions—the second of which was the title left vacated by a certain Conor McGregor once he jumped ship to the UFC.

That UFC debut occurred ahead of the promotion’s first ever show in Krakow, Poland. Ray replaced an injured Jason Saggo to take on another hometown fighter in Marcin Bandel on relatively short notice. Ray’s ability to finish the fight was there to be seen as he dispatched Bandel in the second stanza by TKO. That was followed with another TKO win over Brazilian foe Leonardo Mafra in just 150 seconds in the UFC’s first show in his home nation of Scotland—picking up a Performance of the Night bonus in doing so—before a unanimous victory in his last outing against Michael Lebout at the tail end of 2015. Three UFC fights in 2015, three wins. Not bad.

The son of Kirkcaldy, Fife, certainly has an impressive record of finishing fights on his resume with six of his 19 professional wins coming by knockout and eight coming by way of submission. Like with Bandel in Poland, Ray is fully expecting to face a tough homecrowd in Brasilia. But, this won’t deter him—especially as he feels his upcoming opponent’s skills leave plenty to be desired.

Speaking to MMAjunkie, Ray said: ““(It will be) a little bit like my debut,” Ray said. “I fought a Polish guy in Poland. I never got booed. It was more just silent when I walked out. I know Brazilian fans are a lot crazier than that. I’ve been at fights before where I’ve been booed. Maybe not by 16,000 (fans), but when I’m in the cage it doesn’t matter where it is. The way I see it, the pressure is on him.

“He’s just another opponent. (He presents) different sorts of challenges and stuff. He’s one of those weird, unorthodox guys. He has a capoeira background, so he throws some different stuff that other people don’t. Striking-wise, he doesn’t look the best and almost looks uncomfortable in there. He’s really long and rangy. I don’t think he’s the tallest, but he looks about 6-foot-5 because of his limbs. He isn’t the most technical, but he kind of bum-rushes you.”

Ray has had to endure a long lay-off with injury—having not fought for almost a year. But, aged only 26-years-old, this time away from the Octagon could have benefitted him as he continues to round out his game to compete with the upper echelons in the shark tank UFC lightweight division. Similarly, Patrick has had limited time in the cage through injury, having only fought four times in the last three years.

Patrick possesses various tools—including his well-rounded skillset and sheer physicality as a rangy 5’11” lightweight—while Ray is the diminutive, slick striker who is more than competent when the fight gets taken down to the mat. It’s a great clash of styles and a win for either man will inevitably have large permutations in both of their careers. That’s why it’s this week’s One to Watch.

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