Pat Healy Wants Respect After Next Bout
Heading into his bout with Strikeforce newcomer Eric Wisely at the August 12 Challengers event, Pat Healy is looking to earn something people don’t give him much of, respect.
“I always joke with my friends that I really think I’m the Rodney Dangerfield of MMA; I can’t get no respect man,” Healy said. “I finally saw a positive article about me in Fight Magazine; everything else in my career it seems like they call me a journeyman, or whatever, they don’t realize that I took a lot of my fights when I was 21, 22; fought really tough guys…Like I said, can’t get no respect.”
If it’s respect Healy wants, a win over Wisely would definitely help his case. The Clinton, Iowa native holds a record of 17-5 and has gone undefeated in his last four fights with wins over UFC vets Hermes Franca and Matt Veach. Although Healy is happy to be facing a fighter like Wisely, he admits the decision caught him off guard.
“I was definitely a little bit surprised,” said Healy. “I thought that when they announced Jorge Gurgel on that card, I thought for sure, that was my fight you know? I’m pretty surprised they went the way they did. I think me and Gurgel, Joe Duarte and Eric Wisely would have been a little bit more appropriate of a fight.”
Should Healy walk away the victor against Wisely, he hopes he can convince the Strikeforce brass to set him up for his next bout right away.
“I’m going to be right on Sean Shelby (Strikeforce matchmaker) after this one to get another one lined up,” Healy noted. “It’s been really rough being with Strikeforce so far to be honest. It’s crippled me financially. I was in a good place financially, and when I signed with Strikeforce I thought it would be better, but it’s totally destroyed me. I really want to get on them; two fights in 13 months is a frickin joke for a 28 year old.”
Despite his frustration with his employer, Healy is keeping his head up now that the UFC parent company Zuffa is in the picture.
“I think now that Zuffa is behind them the fights will come more frequently,” said Healy. “Before Strikeforce seemed really disorganized about who you were fighting and when; it seemed like they just slapped the cards together a few weeks out…It seems like Zuffa is way more on top of it. When their guys took over we were in contact with Shelby right away, we’ve had contact with them the whole way.”
