AG grad Patton ready for Labor Day weekend bout
Karli Jo Thomas Patton returns to the cage for the first time in nine months on Labor Day weekend looking to earn her first MMA victory after tying the knot with fellow MMA fighter Justin Patton.
The Albert Gallatin graduate had her last bout on Dec. 20 against Paige Wilcox at Cage Fury Fighting Championships’ CFFC 149, but suffered her first professional setback as Wilcox locked in a rear-naked choke in the first round after a scramble following a takedown by Patton.
Patton (2-1-0, 2 stoppages via submission) thought she had a fight in April, but after nearly going through a whole camp, the bout was scrapped two weeks prior to the event.
Patton will be fighting for the CFFC promotion for the fourth time, and she hopes married life will help her to get back into the winning column in a catch-weight bout (120 pounds).
“I am super excited for the fight,” Patton said. “It has been a long time since I got to fight, and when a bout is cancelled, it’s very frustrating, but you can’t really dwell on it. You just have to get back to training and be ready when you get that call.
“I don’t think being married will change anything about how I fight. Justin and I have always kept our personal and professional lives separate. We do train together, but when we get into the gym, it’s time to turn our fight mode on. We are pretty serious when we are training, but when we get home, we have our time.”
Justin won’t be on the card when Karli faces Ashley Barrett (3-2-0, 2 stoppages) in a three-round fight on the main card of CFFC 160 on Sept. 4 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Bristol, Va.
Barrett lost a unanimous decision to Sophie Lang (2-0-0, 1 stoppage) on May 15 in strawweight action.
Karli Patton has fought at strawweight (115 pounds) the last two bouts, but making weight was a challenge.
“I did have a bit of a hard time getting down to 115, and they were trying all summer to match me at 125, so that’s why this will be at 120,” Patton said. “No matter who you are, it’s tough to cut weight.”
Patton was coaching women’s wrestling at Waynesburg University while competing in MMA, but decided to step down to focus 100% on her fighting career.
“I have to give 100% to something, and with my pro fighting career, I needed to decide on one or the other,” Patton said. “I wanted to focus on fighting, and they needed to find someone who was more into it.”
The event will be headlined by a welterweight showdown for the interim title featuring Egor Kostyuchenko (7-1) and Tyler Veal (6-0).
Flyweights Brandon Bohannan (3-0) and Brent Williams (4-0) meet in a battle of undefeated fighters, and Dan Holt (4-1) takes on Elvin Romero (5-2) in a lightweight bout.
Lucas Cortes (3-1) tangles with Johnny Santos (1-0) at middleweight and Sean Clabough makes his pro debut against Buddha Hanchard (1-0) in a welterweight battle. Flyweights Sebastian Quevedo (1-1) and Kaelob Alger (0-1) face off in a three-round showdown.
A pair of NextGen matchups feature David Bertrand (3-0) and Edwin Romero (4-1) at middleweight, and Diego Espinoza (2-0-1) and Hugo Rodriguez (3-0) at featherweight.
The event will be available to stream on UFC Fight Pass. The main card, which Patton will fight on, is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.