THE CANADIAN PRESS
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Middleweight champion Anderson (The Spider) Silva defeated Patrick (The Predator) Cote by TKO when the Canadian couldn’t continue after his knee suddenly gave out in the third round at UFC 90 on Saturday night.
Cote planted his right foot and then crumpled in pain, clutching his knee 39 seconds into the third round while Silva looked on. It was a strange end to a unsatisfactory fight before 15,359 that seemed like more of a workout than a title defence for the champion, who appeared disengaged.
"Trust me man, it was a weird night," said UFC president Dana White. "I thought I was dreaming. I wanted somebody to slap me and wake me up."
Silva, 33, is widely seen as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet and has pretty much cleaned out the 185-pound division. Cote, whose UFC career started with four straight losses, got his shot by winning four in a row. Bookies rated Silva as high as a 7-1 favourite.
But the champion hardly threw a punch when the fight started.
"I didn’t come here to play, I came here to win," said Silva, who apologized for his performance nevertheless.
An emotional Cote (14-5) apologized after the fight, saying he had an injured meniscus that popped out midway through the second round. An unsympathetic crowd booed when the fight ended.
"Patrick should not be booed," Silva said in the cage via an interpreter.
"Thanks for coming, ladies and gentlemen," he added in English. "Sorry."
Two judges awarded the first and second rounds to Silva, while the third judge gave the first round to Cote and the second to Silva.
Silva (23-4 including 8-0 in the UFC) moved and circled as the fight started, with Cote trying unsuccessfully to close the distance. Silva got the Canadian’s attention with some scything kicks and then a big knee later in the round that left blood tricking down Cote’s forehead.
Silva just missed taking Cote’s head off with a high kick early in the second. Cote lost balance and ended up on the bottom soon after and Silva cheekily offered to help him up after backing off and tapping him gently with his foot.
It was like a workout session for the champion, who at times moved like he was on the dance floor. The round ended to boos, with Silva connecting at the fence with some knees.
In the third, it ended suddenly with the 28-year-old from Montreal grimacing and clutching his knee.
Fellow Canadian Georges St. Pierre, the current UFC welterweight champion, was ringside to watch his friend and training partner take on Silva.
Cote entered the arena, baseball cap askew, with his cornermen wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Predator on the back. Then a relaxed, smiling Silva came out, his manager holding the shiny championship belt.
The two touched gloves and bowed to each other before the bell rang.
It marked the first time Silva has gone past the second round in the UFC.
"We’re all baffled by what happened tonight," said White.
The card at Allstate Arena, the suburban home of the AHL champion Chicago Wolves just minutes from O’Hare International Airport, was the UFC’s first in Illinois.
In the co-main event, Thiago (Pitbull) Alves cemented his status as the No. 1 contender in the welterweight ranks by pounding out a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) over Josh Koscheck. It was the seventh straight win for the powerful Alves (22-4), who has not lost since June 2006 when he was TKO’d by Jon Fitch.
Koscheck (13-3) was in survival mode early in the first round when he was knocked down with a left hook and then absorbed a kick to the head when he got back up. But Koscheck wrestled his way out of danger and scored with some blows of his own later in the round.
The two gave as good as they got in the second. Alves, who intelligently combined kicks and punches all night, hurt Koscheck early and late in the third and punished him at the fence both times. The third round was halted twice to allow each fighter to recover from being poked in the eye.
Koscheck, who took the fight on short notice after Diego Sanchez was injured in training, lost but still put on a gutsy performance and Alves has the lumps on his face to prove it.
Earlier, former lightweight champion Sean (The Muscle Shark) Sherk won a unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin in an all-action standup fight that could have gone either way. The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Sherk with many in the crowd booing the decision.
The two went at it like five-foot-six pit bulls in a frantic first round that saw both men land hard shots. It was more of the same in the second, which left both fighters’ faces marked up.
Griffin (12-2) buckled Sherk (37-3-1) early in the third but the former champion, better known for his wrestling, kept swinging. Griffin, who at 24 had 11 years on his opponent, circled and punched while Sherk counter-attacked from the middle of the cage. The fight ended to loud cheers with both men raising their arms. Both were rewarded with a bonus of US$65,000 for fight of the night honours.
It was Sherk’s first win since being stripped of the 155-pound title following a steroids suspension arising from UFC 73 in July 2007, He was beaten by B.J. Penn at UFC 80 in January in his comeback fight.
Heavyweight Junior Dos Santos, in his UFC debut, upset 6-1 favourite Fabricio Werdum (11-4-1) in a battle of Brazilian behemoths, knocking him out with a crushing right uppercut to the chin at 1:20 of the first round. Both men were throwing rights at the time but Dos Santos (7-1), coached by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, connected first.
Santos received the knockout of the night bonus, also worth $65,000.
Lightweight Gray (The Bully) Maynard maintained his unbeaten record in the UFC with a unanimous decision over Rich (No Love) Clementi (40-13-1), a slippery veteran who came into the fight having won four straight in the UFC.
Maynard (7-0 with one no contest) scored a big takedown in each round en route to the 30-27 unanimous decision in a fight that failed to take off.
Lightweight Hermes Franca won a unanimous decision in a grudge match with Marcus (Maximus) Aurelio.
Aurelio, 35, used to teach the 34-year-old Franca jiu-jitsu but the two no longer get on, which Franca (20-1) demonstrated when he jostled Aurelio as he did a lap upon entering the cage before the fight. Aurelio (16-7) had no answer for Franca’s kicks, which buckled his legs leaving ugly red welts.
The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 for Franca.
Lightweight Spencer (The King) Fisher looked impressive in submitting a game but less experienced Shannon Gugerty via triangle choke at 3:56 of the third round. That netted Fisher the $65,000 bonus for submission of the night.
Fisher (23-4 including 7-3 in the UFC) opened a nasty gash over Gugerty’s left eye in a first round that also see Gugerty (11-3) go down, eating a right to the head as he attempted a leg kick. Gugerty took Fisher down in the third, only to get caught in a triangle that Fisher gradually improved before Gugerty tapped out.
Middleweight Thales Leites made short work of Drew (The Massacre) McFedries, choking him out at 1:18 of the first round. in a classic striker versus grappler matchup. McFedries took the fight on two weeks notice after Goran Reljic pulled out with a back injury.
Middleweight Dan Miller won a unanimous decision over Matt Horwich in a battle of former IFL fighters.
Welterweight Pete (Drago) Sell rebounded from a rocky first round to earn a unanimous 29-28 decision over Josh (The People’s Warrior) Burkman.
The gate was $2.85 million, a record for the Allstate Arena.
