Silva, Cote Clear Final Hurdle for UFC 90

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva looked the part of a stone-cold hitman when he stepped on the scale at the Chicago Theater.

Silva checked in at 184 pounds at Friday’s official weigh-in for UFC 90 “Silva vs. Cote,” scheduled for Saturday at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The Brazilian’s 28-year-old challenger, Patrick Cote (183), also came in under the 185-pound threshold.

Seventeen of the 18 other mixed martial artists scheduled to compete at UFC 90 also made weight without incident. Only Josh Burkman failed to meet his requirement, as he tipped the scales at a surprising 173 pounds. According to UFC.com, Burkman made 171 pounds an hour later on his second attempt, making his bout with Pete Sell official for Saturday.

A juggernaut in every sense of the word, Silva has all but ransacked the UFC middleweight division since he arrived in the Octagon in 2006. He counts victories against former champion Rich Franklin (twice), two-time Olympian Dan Henderson and former middleweight King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt, among others. Silva can tie Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch for most consecutive wins in UFC history (eight) with a victory over Cote. The 33-year-old, who has hinted at retirement in recent weeks, has not competed since he blasted through light heavyweight James Irvin in 61 seconds at UFC Fight Night 14 in July.

“It’s going to be fun,” Silva said. “It’s going to be a great fight.”

Cote, meanwhile, enters with plenty of momentum, as he has rattled off five straight wins -- three of them by technical knockout -- since his submission loss to Travis Lutter at “The Ultimate Fighter 4” Finale in November 2006. He earned a split decision against the highly regarded Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 in July, setting the table for his showdown with Silva.

“I can’t wait,” Cote said. “I know there are a lot of Canadian fans here. I trained very hard for this fight. I’m ready to shock the world.”

Welterweights Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck, pitted against one another in Saturday’s co-featured bout, showed up in shape, too.

Alves -- who tipped the scales at 171 -- has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the division and could be one win away from challenging Georges St. Pierre for the 170-pound crown. Based out of American Top Team, the 25-year-old Brazilian last appeared at UFC 85 in June, when he stopped two-time titleholder and future hall of famer Matt Hughes on second-round strikes. Alves failed to make weight for the bout but had no such trouble for his matchup with Koscheck.

Koscheck (170), subbing for the injured Diego Sanchez, accepted the fight on two week’s notice. A product of the American Kickboxing Academy, he has won seven of his past eight matches, losing only to St. Pierre in that span. One of the premier wrestlers in the sport, he has not competed since July, when he battered and bloodied the durable Chris Lytle en route to a unanimous decision at UFC 86.

UFC 90 Weigh-in Results:

UFC Middleweight Championship
Anderson Silva (184) vs. Patrick Cote (183)

Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Thiago Alves (171)
Rich Clementi (156) vs. Gray Maynard (155)
Fabricio Werdum (256) vs. Junior dos Santos (234)
Sean Sherk (156) vs. Tyson Griffin (155)
Thales Leites (186) vs. Drew McFedries (186)
Spencer Fisher (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (156)
Dan Miller (185) vs. Matt Horwich (186)
Hermes Franca (156) vs. Marcus Aurelio (156)
Josh Burkman (171)* vs. Pete Sell (170)

* Josh Burkman, who originally weighed-in at 173 pounds, successfully made weight (171) on his second attempt.