Patrick Cote won’t have to wait very long to get in the cage with the UFC’s pound-for-pound best in Anderson Silva. The UFC has announced that the two will fight as the headliner of its October event in Chicago.
I’m glad, because this is a much more interesting fight than Silva vs. Yushin Okami. That one would either be a destruction by Silva, or if by some miracle Okami could take the champion down, he would just lie on him and try to eke out a decision victory.
And we all know how exciting that would be.
Okami is the definition of a "lay and pray" fighter, which reminds me: why is it called "lay and pray"? Grammatically speaking, shouldn’t it by "lie and pray?" Unless, of course, it is refering to laying "your body" on top of the other. A little awkward, is all. But I digress.
Cote will offer an entirely different type of fight. His nickname is The Predator for good reason. He goes after his opponents, and I think that will even be the case against a guy in Silva most fighters have had no answer for.
I think Cote could stand and bang with Silva. I really do. The only concern is whether Cote will have enough versatility to handle it when Silva brings other parts of his game. He employed a great strategy against Almeida, and with three months to prepare for Silva, I think he can come up with one here. He’s training with some great guys at the TriStar gym in Montreal. And of course, he’s got good friend and future fellow UFC champion Georges St. Pierre in his ear.
What’s that you say, it appears like I’m predicting a Cote victory? Yep, I really think he has a chance and if I were to have to pick right now, I’m calling the upset. (But I reserve the right to change my pick come fight time if any factors change.)
NOTES: The Chicago event will mark the UFC’s fifth straight first-time event in a new market following UFC 87 in Minneapolis, UFC 88 in Atlanta, UFC Fight Night 15 in Omaha, UFC 89 in Birmingham, England (seventh in Great Britain, but first in that city).
With the next five shows taking place outside Las Vegas, it will be the longest such stretch in terms of number of events away from the UFC’s home base since 2001. That was the year the UFC was acquired by Las Vegas-based Zuffa, LLC, and MMA was sanctioned in the state of Nevada. Previously, the most consecutive events not held in Las Vegas was three, most recently earlier this year with UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio; UFC Fight Night 13 in Broomfield, Colo. and UFC 85 in London, England. This is clearly indicative of the organization’s mandate of reaching as many new areas as possible.
