Cote to face Voelker in WW debut at UFC 158

Patrick Côté has an opponent for his opponent for his welterweight debut, and it will be a guy making his UFC debut.

According to TVA Sports first reported that Côté (18-8) will fight newcomer Bobby Voelker at UFC 158 in Montreal in March.

It will be the Rimouski, Que., native’s first fight at 170 pounds. Voelker meanwhile joins the UFC from Strikeforce. He is riding a three-fight win streak, including back-to-back TKO wins over Roger Bowling.

Cote was originally going to fight Alessio Sakara in a rematch of their fight at UFC 154 that ended with the Italian Sakara being disqualified in the first round for blows to the back of Côté’s head. However, doctors told Sakara he should not compete for three months because of a kidney illness. Subsequently, Côté decided to drop down from middleweight.

The 32-year-old Montreal-based fighter has competed at middleweight for almost his entire MMA career. He said he’ll be working with Jean-François Gaudreau, the same nutritionist that deals with Montreal Canadiens players. He hopes to get down to about 190 pounds by February.

UFC 158 will take place at the Bell Centre is headlined by the welterweight title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz.

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