PATRICK COTE IS REFOCUSED AND READY TO SHINE
Patrick Cote burst onto the UFC scene in perhaps the biggest way one could, fighting former Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. He took the fight on short notice when Guy Mezger, Ortiz's original opponent had to pull out due to injury.
Cote made a good showing for himself in his fight with Ortiz and he even dropped him at one point in the fight. In the end, though, Ortiz's veteran composure coupled with a solid game plan helped him pull out a unanimous decision victory over the Canadian.
He certainly did not have an easy entrance into the UFC. Cote faced his fair share of controversial decisions and tough fights in the early days of his UFC career, including a razor-thin decision loss to Chris Leben and a submission loss to gritty veteran Joe Doerksen.
In his fight with Doerksen, Cote had his opponent rocked a number of times and Doerksen even admitted afterwards that he fought the majority of the fight semi-conscious. Doerksen showed the poise that accompanies 40 professional fights, though, and the moment that Cote made a mistake, he ended the fight with a textbook rear naked choke.
Following his losses to Ortiz, Doerksen and Leben, fans knew Cote as perhaps the most talented UFC fighter still with a goose egg in the win column. It was at that time in his career that he decided to sharpen his skills elsewhere. He chose to take some time away in order to gain more experience by competing in other organizations.
Though Cote was on a leave of absence from the UFC, he certainly did not forgo tough competition. While on an Octagonal hiatus, he fought UFC veteran Bill Mahood and future UFC competitor Jason MacDonald. Cote won each of these fights by submission and it seemed as though he was primed for a UFC comeback.
It was at this time that he got the call to be a part of “The Ultimate Fighter” season four “The Comeback.” The show's title seemed quite fitting for the Canadian since he had recently recorded two impressive wins and he seemed ripe for re-entrance into the big show.
Cote accepted the offer to participate on the reality show and did well for himself making it all the way to the finale still undefeated. As was typical in his UFC career, however, Cote would come up short to Travis Lutter and would fail to win the coveted title of The Ultimate Fighter.
With the loss to Lutter now behind him, it seems that Cote is finally back on track. The man who came into the UFC on a five-fight win streak and undefeated is again headed in the right direction, forward.
He showed his improvement by recording his biggest career victory to date. At UFC 74, Cote faced Kendall Grove, the winner of season five of The Ultimate Fighter. With Cote's teeter-totter record and Grove's recent tear through the division, Grove was the definitive favorite going into the fight.
This time, though, Cote was ready. With just over 15 seconds left in the first round, he caught Grove with a punch and jumped on him and finished the fight. Finally, Cote had secured a high profile UFC win.
Of his fight with Grove, he said, “It felt very good. I haven't knocked a lot of people out in the UFC and everybody was presenting me as an idiot because I wasn't able to finish my opponent with a knockout, and finally I have a knockout and I proved to everybody that I have a heavy hand.”
He continued, “I knockout a lot of people outside of the UFC, but now I'm able to knockout somebody in the UFC. It was very good for my confidence and right now, my confidence is really, really high. I can just see a lot of good things for me in the future.”
For his upcoming fight against the hard-hitting Drew McFedries, Cote is splitting training time between his gym in Canada and Mark DellaGrotte's gym in Boston.
Cote said of this camp, “It's the best training of my life. Since I'm down here (at Sityodtong) I'm undefeated. Nobody's a superstar and everybody tries to help each other and I think that's the key. You've got to find a good place where you are comfortable and you have a good training partner.”
When you have the punching power of Cote though, keeping training partners, not finding them, may be the problem. He has well documented heavy hands and now that he has the confidence to accompany that power, he will be a tough task for anyone in his way.
Many fighters that he has faced in the cage come into matches talking a big game of how they are going to stand with him and knock him out. When it comes time to back it up, however, most of these men seem much more interested in looking for a quick double-leg takedown or a slick submission and much less interested in slinging leather with the heavy hitter.
McFedries is a man who has shown power in both hands in his UFC career though, and he may just be that man who is willing to stand and trade with Cote. What are Cote's thoughts on that?
“I have a good chin and I can take a punch and I can knock everybody out … I'm ready for everything. The thing is I like to focus more on my game plan than to focus on my opponent's.”
With his new training partners and his newfound skills now both in his arsenal, what does Cote believe is in store for him in the near future?
“I think now I have the perfect combination to go to the top of the middleweight division.”
Patrick Cote burst onto the UFC scene in perhaps the biggest way one could, fighting former Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. He took the fight on short notice when Guy Mezger, Ortiz's original opponent had to pull out due to injury.
Cote made a good showing for himself in his fight with Ortiz and he even dropped him at one point in the fight. In the end, though, Ortiz's veteran composure coupled with a solid game plan helped him pull out a unanimous decision victory over the Canadian.
He certainly did not have an easy entrance into the UFC. Cote faced his fair share of controversial decisions and tough fights in the early days of his UFC career, including a razor-thin decision loss to Chris Leben and a submission loss to gritty veteran Joe Doerksen.
In his fight with Doerksen, Cote had his opponent rocked a number of times and Doerksen even admitted afterwards that he fought the majority of the fight semi-conscious. Doerksen showed the poise that accompanies 40 professional fights, though, and the moment that Cote made a mistake, he ended the fight with a textbook rear naked choke.
Following his losses to Ortiz, Doerksen and Leben, fans knew Cote as perhaps the most talented UFC fighter still with a goose egg in the win column. It was at that time in his career that he decided to sharpen his skills elsewhere. He chose to take some time away in order to gain more experience by competing in other organizations.
Though Cote was on a leave of absence from the UFC, he certainly did not forgo tough competition. While on an Octagonal hiatus, he fought UFC veteran Bill Mahood and future UFC competitor Jason MacDonald. Cote won each of these fights by submission and it seemed as though he was primed for a UFC comeback.
It was at this time that he got the call to be a part of “The Ultimate Fighter” season four “The Comeback.” The show's title seemed quite fitting for the Canadian since he had recently recorded two impressive wins and he seemed ripe for re-entrance into the big show.
Cote accepted the offer to participate on the reality show and did well for himself making it all the way to the finale still undefeated. As was typical in his UFC career, however, Cote would come up short to Travis Lutter and would fail to win the coveted title of The Ultimate Fighter.
With the loss to Lutter now behind him, it seems that Cote is finally back on track. The man who came into the UFC on a five-fight win streak and undefeated is again headed in the right direction, forward.
He showed his improvement by recording his biggest career victory to date. At UFC 74, Cote faced Kendall Grove, the winner of season five of The Ultimate Fighter. With Cote's teeter-totter record and Grove's recent tear through the division, Grove was the definitive favorite going into the fight.
This time, though, Cote was ready. With just over 15 seconds left in the first round, he caught Grove with a punch and jumped on him and finished the fight. Finally, Cote had secured a high profile UFC win.
Of his fight with Grove, he said, “It felt very good. I haven't knocked a lot of people out in the UFC and everybody was presenting me as an idiot because I wasn't able to finish my opponent with a knockout, and finally I have a knockout and I proved to everybody that I have a heavy hand.”
He continued, “I knockout a lot of people outside of the UFC, but now I'm able to knockout somebody in the UFC. It was very good for my confidence and right now, my confidence is really, really high. I can just see a lot of good things for me in the future.”
For his upcoming fight against the hard-hitting Drew McFedries, Cote is splitting training time between his gym in Canada and Mark DellaGrotte's gym in Boston.
Cote said of this camp, “It's the best training of my life. Since I'm down here (at Sityodtong) I'm undefeated. Nobody's a superstar and everybody tries to help each other and I think that's the key. You've got to find a good place where you are comfortable and you have a good training partner.”
When you have the punching power of Cote though, keeping training partners, not finding them, may be the problem. He has well documented heavy hands and now that he has the confidence to accompany that power, he will be a tough task for anyone in his way.
Many fighters that he has faced in the cage come into matches talking a big game of how they are going to stand with him and knock him out. When it comes time to back it up, however, most of these men seem much more interested in looking for a quick double-leg takedown or a slick submission and much less interested in slinging leather with the heavy hitter.
McFedries is a man who has shown power in both hands in his UFC career though, and he may just be that man who is willing to stand and trade with Cote. What are Cote's thoughts on that?
“I have a good chin and I can take a punch and I can knock everybody out … I'm ready for everything. The thing is I like to focus more on my game plan than to focus on my opponent's.”
With his new training partners and his newfound skills now both in his arsenal, what does Cote believe is in store for him in the near future?
“I think now I have the perfect combination to go to the top of the middleweight division.”
