Cote: ‘I Hope to Finish the Year with the UFC’
Mike Whitman Jan 26, 2011
Patrick Cote (center) | Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com
Last week, Montreal-based promotion Ringside MMA announced the signing of free agent and former UFC title challenger Patrick Cote. Speaking exclusively to Sherdog.com on Wednesday, Cote revealed the particulars of his deal and discussed his plans for the future.
“I signed for two fights. I’m going to fight April 9 and, after that, in June,” Cote said. “After that, I hope to finish the year with the UFC after two big wins. Probably, the UFC will call me back, but you never know. The only thing I can control now is my fight on April 9 and how I go in there and knock somebody out.”
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“Kalib is well-known for his fight against Nate Quarry at UFC 83. He ran a little bit in that fight, but I think it would be a big mistake for me to [prepare for this fight] based on that performance,” said Cote. “He’s a good BJJ guy, and he is good [on the ground]. He’s like everybody else. He wants to get back in the UFC. For sure, he’s going to be ready, and I can’t take him lightly.”
Prior to signing on for the Starnes fight, however, the French
Canadian had his eye on another UFC castoff as his debut opponent
in Ringside.
“Actually, the first fight I wanted was Phil Baroni, but he signed very quickly with Titan Fighting,” Cote said. “Right now, for me it’s all about winning and knocking somebody out. I miss that, so I’m going to do that in my next fight.”
Cote’s recent run with the UFC ended with three consecutive losses, the lone such stretch of the 30-year-old’s career. The first of those defeats came at the hands of middleweight champion Anderson Silva in Cote’s 2009 title shot. After injuring his knee in the third round of that fight at UFC 90, Cote sat on the sideline, rehabbing the joint after undergoing surgery.
Eighteen months later, “The Predator” returned and fell once again, this time to Alan Belcher at UFC 113. According to Cote, the loss was not a result of lingering issues with his knee, which was fully healed and remains in good shape.
“When I fought Belcher, I felt good. I was in good shape, but I had kind of a slow start. In the second round, especially, I was about to find my range, and I punched him really hard a couple of times,” said Cote. “When he dropped me on my head, I lost [my bearings] in the fight, and then he took the rear-naked choke. So, no excuses for that fight.”
Cote then suffered a debilitating back injury just two days before he was scheduled to meet tenacious wrestler Tom Lawlor at UFC 121.
“I don’t want to make excuses. Tom Lawlor came very prepared, and he did his job. He won it. I don’t want to take anything away from his performance. But from my side, I wasn’t 100 percent, for sure,” said Cote. “I was kicking some pads and, when I kicked, something happened to my back. The day of my fight, I wasn’t able to get off my bed alone. We tried some good massage and stretching, but I couldn’t feel my leg at all, especially in the third round.”
Though Cote admits that fighting may not have been the smartest decision, he believes that the choice exemplifies his personality.
“I was [already] in California, and I [had completed] my training camp. Maybe I should not have fought, but that’s the kind of guy I am. I went in to fight and, unfortunately, I gave a bad performance that cost me my place in the UFC,” said Cote.
Now, with his back healed and a new contract in his pocket, Cote feels ready to make his run back to the big show. In fact, those aspirations were, in part, what guided the fighter to sign with Ringside over other competing promotions.
“Since the announcement was on the Internet that the UFC fired me, I’ve gotten a lot of offers from other organizations. But Ringside was there from the beginning. They’ve shown me a lot of respect and [signed me for] good money. I put my cards on the table, and I told them that my goal is to get back to the UFC. They understand that, and they respect my choice for what I want in the future.”
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