Claude Patrick punching Ricard Funch (photo via mississaugaelite.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

After going through 2012 without stepping into the Octagon, welterweight veteran Claude Patrick is hoping to make his UFC return sometime in the coming months. The 32 year-old-fighter, who hasn’t fought since December, 2011 due to injury, relayed to Full Contact Fighter today that he should be back in action soon.

“I’ve been out so long that I figured I might as well come back strong,” said Patrick, who was scheduled to fight James Head at UFC 149 last July, before he was forced to withdraw with an injury. “It’s probably going to be in the summertime. I think I’ll be cleared after about eight months, so it should be about summer.”

Patrick has traditionally been hesitant to reveal the nature of his injuries, and the Mississauga, Ontario, fighter isn’t make any exceptions now.

“Why would I tell anyone where I hurt?” Patrick said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Although Patrick wouldn’t discuss any specifics regarding the injury which pulled him from UFC 149 and has kept him sidelined since, he did acknowledge that it required surgery.

“Every injury is serious, so it’s better to think about the positive side of things,” noted Patrick. “It was two weeks before my fight with James Head was supposed to happen in Calgary…I got hurt. It really sucked. Ten weeks of training camp already and then you get hurt. To get hurt your last hard week is a disaster.”

Patrick (photo via UFC.com)

Patrick is understandably excited to get back in action, but the veteran isn’t about to make his return before he’s certain he can perform at 100%.

“You can come back thinking ‘oh, I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go’, and hurt yourself worse, mess up your whole career,” noted Patrick. “I’m not one of those dummies. If I’ve been out this long already, it doesn’t make any sense at all rushing back; I just have to be sure I’m healthy, in good shape and have my timing back.”

“I always have my hand in a couple different hats,” added Patrick, who is also an instructor at the Elite Training Centre in Mississauga, and as a result, isn’t reliant on his fight money. “I’m not one of those ‘If I don’t do this I’m going to die’ type guys. That’s kind of an irresponsible route to take…I got hurt before in the IFL and was out for a long time. That was a pretty good life lesson for me right there.”

Prior to being matched up with Head, Patrick took on Brian Ebersole at UFC 140, and dropped a tightly contested, split decision loss to the ground-and-pound stylist. Afterwards, Patrick wasn’t shy about disputing the judge’s decision, and the 14-2 fighter hasn’t evidently changed his mind since.

“You can say he won, because the judges say he did, but the only thing you could base it on was takedowns,” said Patrick. “Two takedowns, and I wouldn’t say I let happen, but the rest were me attempting submissions. That’s not a takedown because you’re trying to end the fight with a choke. If you end up on top and I’m choking you that’s not a takedown.”

“The judging in this sport is insane at times,” added Patrick, who has scored wins over Ricardo Funch, James Wilks and Daniel Roberts since joining the UFC in 2010. “But that’s water way under the bridge now. It’s the furthest thing from my mind, but if you look at some of his other fights, he’s got some heavy ground-and-pound…I walked out of there like I just had a massage, not a scratch on me.”