Instead of unleashing a flurry of violence, Anderson Silva faced a flurry questions following Patrick Cote's injury-induced collapse to the canvas.
Little did I realize that on Saturday night the UFC 90 main event between Anderson Silva and Patrick Cote would spawn so many different opinions from every walk of life. There are many who have been critical of Silva’s performance, his whole showboating act and that he may have embarrassed both the UFC and the sport, but also himself. I’m not sure I agree with all of the criticism.
Having met Silva on numerous occasions and having seen the vast majority of his fights, I sincerely believe he is a humble soul who just happens to be a ruthless mercenary when he is in a fight. In doing research for many of my analytical fight breakdowns, I tend to see many elite fighters display qualities that the rest of his counterparts only wish they can have. Some of these qualities are timing and range, often giving the fighter the ability
to launch an attack with perfect execution. It’s as if they are seeing the action in slow motion, affording them a sense of confidence to take risks; chances that other fighters would never dare take in front of millions of viewers.
I saw it when B.J. Penn fought Sean Sherk and when Silva fought Chris Leben. I’ve seen Floyd Mayweather, Roy Jones Jr. and Muhammad Ali do it dozens of times. I’ve seen it in other sports with athletes like Wayne Gretzky, Ronaldinho and Michael Schumacher. World-class performers that reached a certain level of skill, whereby everything around them seems to be predictable, slow and a walk in the park when it comes to performing under pressure.
What I saw in Chicago on Saturday night was Silva showcasing a cat-and-mouse style where he felt Patrick Cote was just not on his level. Silva appeared to toy with Cote, choosing to exchange only when he felt it was time to put some points on the board. He would shuffle his feet, slip just inches away from Cote’s punches while bobbing and weaving during punching combinations.
"He was lost. He could never find me. That was the strategy…I was trying to confuse him," stated Silva at the post-fight press conference.
Many of the media were critical of Silva’s antics, pressuring him to answer their questions as if he had just been placed in front of a grand jury.
"I didn’t come here to play. I came her to do my job," said Silva, who began to get edgy with the interrogation. Generally a calm man, Silva was visibly agitated and would quickly address the questions after they were translated. At one point he appeared fed up and eventually fired off a warning shot to the next person who steps into the Octagon.
"I hope all of my future opponents understand that. I am here to win."
It appears playtime is over. While watching the bout, it was clear to me that Silva felt Cote just could not match skills with him. The numbers showcased this, as FightMetric.com had Silva’s accuracy at 63% to Cote’s 17%. While Silva appeared to be playing, when he did strike, he connected at a higher percentage than his opponent.
Silva was on cruise control and every so often would pick up the pace to mess with Cote’s rhythm. It was just a matter of time before he was going to switch it into high gear and finish the fight.
From my vantage point, and just noticing Silva’s change in focus coming out in the third round, there was a feeling in media row that Silva was now ready to engage in hopes of finishing the fight. We were waiting to see what he was about to unleash and in an unexpected turn of events, Cote went down in excruciating pain.
Silva’s facial reaction at the time was one of confusion but then what many people didn’t see was his frustration when he went to the corner. His eyes looked at his corner men and then into the air. The feeling many of us got was he was frustrated that he was unable to finish off his pre-determined game plan. It was also as if he knew he would be in for a new battle to explain himself.
His post-fight comments appear to share some of this plan.
"It’s unfortunate I wasn’t able to finish the fight the way I wanted to finish the fight. I just would have liked the fight to have ended differently."
As for UFC president Dana White, he was very disappointed in Silva’s performance and
appeared to be holding back a great deal of disgust in his champion. I may be safe to say that White is not a fan of showboating, the cat-and-mouse game and tempered expectations for a fighter who has dominated everyone in the Octagon.
"I think I’m living in an alternate universe" stated White, politely hiding some obvious disdain for a disappointing main event.
While Cote can be happy he took Silva into the third round, unchartered UFC waters for the champ, he can also be proud of the fact that when Silva did launch his attacks, he took them all and kept moving forward.
Cote took some incredible punches and a rock-solid knee that would have buckled many a contender, but the Canadian proved his jaw was harder than Chris Leben’s.
Unfortunately, his right meniscus has paid the price one too many times, with the last one derailing a lifetime opportunity to become the next UFC champion.
I had the chance to speak with Cote’s manager Stephane Patry about what’s next for the Canadian and he was fairly sombre when he shared the expected news. Cote will have to undergo arthroscopic surgery on the meniscus, but no details on whether it will be a repair or replacement. Cote will enjoy some much needed vacation time in Cancun, no doubt relaxing after a long training camp preparing for this bout. Cote will be out for approximately 6-8 months, but may be back sooner pending his recovery time, rehabilitation and response to physiotherapy post-surgery.
A rematch will definitely be requested, but over the next year, it is safe to say that Silva will most likely be facing the likes of Yushin Okami, perhaps Chuck Liddell, or even Cote’s good friend, Georges St. Pierre. Cote will have to come back and win one, maybe two fights against top competitors before the UFC puts him back in the Octagon with Silva.
Stranger things have happened and Cote is definitely a fighter in the UFC’s good books, but over the next six months, the state of the game will change dramatically and unfortunately for Cote, he will most likely have to do some catching up.
