Two weeks. Mike Patt was given the call that all professional fighters dream about. At 2:00 am one morning, the veteran Team Jorge Gurgel fighter was called up to the big show. Mike was offered the biggest fight of his career against a very tough up-and-comer, Tim Boetsch. Mike immediately agreed to the fight and had two weeks to prepare, cut weight and get to Atlanta to show the world he was ready for the UFC. Those of us who know and train with Mike knew it was only a matter of time before he would be called up to the UFC. Most fighters have months to prepare and ready themselves for a UFC show, but Mike Patt had two weeks. Being a consummate professional, he did not hesitate and happily agreed to fight.
    I have had the opportunity to train with Mike for about a year now, and I know from first hand experience what a talented fighter Mike is. If you were to ask anyone who trains with Mike about him, they would all tell you the same thing: Mike Patt is a beast. Mike is a black belt under Jorge Gurgel and dominates his training partners with brut strength and technique to boot. During one training session about a month ago, we were doing bottom drills, and, unfortunately for me, I was teamed up with Mike. During the drill, Mike easily passed my guard and mounted me. While he was raining down punches to my skull, he was carrying on a conversation with teammates watching me get beat up. It was not as if I was letting Mike beat me up, I just could not do anything to stop it. As good as Mike is on the ground, his standup is as equally dominating. Mike likes to spar with me because I am tall and give him a good look, because most of his opponents are also tall men. Every time I hear “Dunlap, you’re tall, lets go” out of Mike’s mouth, my heart drops a little, because I know I am about to take a five minute beating. Mike is as fast as he is powerful on his feet, and he has a little mean streak in him that comes out during sparring sessions. It is not a pleasurable experience for Mike’s sparring partners. Unfortunately for Mike and for all of us who were cheering for him, UFC 88 was not his night. Mike looked loose coming out for the first round, and he put together some good combos and landed some solid kicks to Boetsch. Mike looked comfortable in the fight, but, as so many fighters do, he got caught and was dropped. Mike looked to be covering up and protecting himself but the ref stepped in and the fight was over. Mike was not able to show the world what a gifted fighter he truly is that night, but we can only hope that he gets more than two weeks notice before his next UFC appearance.
   
    In the first live fight of the night Team Jorge Gurgel fighter Matt Brown took on a tough, undefeated Dong Hyun Kim. In true Matt Brown fashion, he came out and pushed the pace of the fight. Kim was able to take Matt’s back 30 seconds into the first round and was able to sink in a rear naked choke. It looked as if Matt was in trouble, but Matt never quits and was able to fight off the submission attempt. Matt kept pushing, always coming forward with combos and leg kicks and began to wear Kim out. With a minute to go in the first round Matt was able to take Kim’s back and appeared to have a bulldog choke on Kim. However, Kim escaped and was on Matt’s back as the round came to an end.
     As round two began, Matt came out very aggressive, landing whatever he pleased on Kim. For the first minute of round two, Kim was Matt’s personal punching bag. Matt was landing some crisp leg kicks to the southpaw’s front leg at will. During round two Matt also showed some good clinch work kneeing the taller Kim in the midsection. Round two also brought a new move to MMA. Kim was on his back as Matt stood at his feet trying to pass to mount. As Kim was attempting to land an up kick, Matt broke out the spinning back fist guard pass from the top standing position. Matt handled Kim in round two and executed a solid beating. Round three saw more of the same as Matt pushed the pace landing combos and fighting off Kim’s offense. Kim was able to take Matt down but did no damage besides a cut from an elbow under Matt’s eye.
    Matt looked much fresher than Kim as the third round ended with Kim lying in Matt’s guard. I thought that Matt had easily won the fight, but the judges scored the fight a split decision with Kim as the winner. I was shocked along with the crowd in Atlanta who began to boo. Matt fought a very solid fight and won over many new fans in the controversial lose to the undefeated Kim. In the post fight interview, Matt said that he did not fight for the judges. He fights because he loves it, and he fights for the fans. With that warrior attitude and exciting fights, Matt will surely be a force to be reckoned with in the UFC for many years to come.
    In the co-main event, JG fighter Rich Franklin moved back up to 205lbs to take on a very game Matt Hamill. Rich went out and picked apart Hamill on his feet. Hamill’s stand up is ever improving, but Rich is one of the elite strikers in MMA and it showed during this fight. Rich landed leg kick after leg kick to Hamill along with some beautiful combinations. Hamill tried switching his stance from traditional to southpaw to throw Rich off; however, it was to no avail. Hamill caught Rich with a glancing jab that opened up a pretty nasty gash on Rich’s right eyebrow. Hamill took Rich down with a minute left in round one but was not able to do any damage. Rich almost ended the fight with an arm bar from bottom. Rich was able to get up and land a knee to Hamill as round one ended.
    Round two was much of the same with Rich scoring at will on Hamill. The ref stopped the fight to take a look at the cut on Rich’s eyebrow but let the fight continue. Rich continued to land devastating leg kicks that were taking a toll on Hamill. Hamill tried but was unable to take Rich down in the second, and Rich punished Hamill on their feet.     Thirty seconds into round three, Rich landed a solid kick to Hamill’s midsection that dropped the fighter. Rich jumped on Hamill, and smothered him with punches. The ref jumped in at 39 seconds into round three and declared Rich Franklin the winner. Rich looked great in his fight with Hamill, and he will be a force to be reckoned with at whichever weight class he chooses.. Congratulations go out to all of our fighters who represented Team Jorge Gurgel at UFC 88 in Atlanta.

MDUNLAP