Patrick Cote, right, hasn't fought since his loss to champion Anderson Silva in October 2008.

BY WEB STAFF
sportsnet.ca

Quebec’s Patrick (The Predator) Cote will make his long overdue return to the cage in the UFC’s Montreal event May 1.

Cote, who has not fought since aggravating a knee injury in his title bout against middleweight champion Anderson Silva in October 2008, made the announcement of his return on his Twitter account this week. He will reportedly take on Alan Belcher, who himself tweeted earlier in the week he had re-signed with the UFC, at the Bell Centre in a key 185-pound matchup at UFC 113.

On Wednesday, Cote changed his Facebook status to read: “Thanks to my manager for this awesome comeback fight !! Thanks Joe Cavallaro !!” Cavallaro, who has represented other UFC fighters including Kenny Florian and Marcus Davis, recently took over management duties for Cote.

This will be the first appearance in the UFC cage in his home province for Cote. He fought numerous times in Montreal with the now-defunct TKO Championship Fighting, for which he was its middleweight champion.

Cote was on a five-fight win streak, including four straight in the Octagon, before his third-round loss to Silva. At the time, Cote became the first UFC fighter to reach the third round against the dominant belt-holder, only to have his knee give way early in the frame, forcing an end to the bout.

Following the fight, Cote had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. He was expected to return some time in late 2009, but another injury setback forced a further delay for his return.

Belcher has been up and down in his last five bouts. He lost to Canadian Jason Day by TKO at the Bell Centre, at the first ever UFC event in Canada, in April 2008. He won his next two over Ed Herman and Denis Kang before dropping a split decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 100 last summer. He is coming off a first-round TKO win however in December against Wilson Gouveia, who was subsequently released by the UFC. He subsequently called out the champion Silva, but he will likely require a couple more wins before he can expect to become the division's No. 1 contender.

NOTES: It appears the UFC’s upcoming show in New Jersey will have at least two Canadians. Toronto’s Mark Bocek is set to fight again on Mar. 27 at UFC 111 in Newark, according to MMAjunkie.com. Bocek, who is fresh off a submission win over Joe Brammer, will face Jim Miller in a lightweight affair. The event is headlined by Montreal’s Georges St-Pierre defending his belt against England’s Dan Hardy.