Anderson Silva VS Patrick Cote
Anderson Silva spent most of the fight fooling around and not fighting, yet he still retained his UFC middleweight championship with a bizarre TKO of Patrick Cote on Saturday just 39 seconds into the third round at Allstate Arena.
Silva was running circles around the cage and generally goofing off for most of the time. Silva cut Cote with a knee in a dull first round in which little happened, and then did even less in a second round in which he seemed to want to play to the crowd rather than fight.
Cote tried to throw some kind of a leaping punch and as he did, his right knee gave way. He immediately collapsed in pain and was shrieking on the ground. Referee Herb Dean, who was initially confused, stopped the bout and gave Silva the victory.
“I want to apologize to everyone in the stadium and everyone in the arena,” said Silva, who urged the upset fans not to boo Cote.
Cote apologized to the fans, but it was Silva who had the explaining to do. Cote at least was the one who was trying to make the fight, but Silva was playing with him for much of the fight.
With the win, Silva tied the UFC record for consecutive wins with eight, matching Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch.
In the semifinal match, Thiago Alves made his case as the top contender for the welterweight title with a strong victory over a game Josh Koscheck. Alves imposed his will in the stand-up and was able to fend off takedown attempts by Koscheck, who is a former NCAA Division I wrestling champion. Alves won by unanimous decision, with scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
After a lackluster event last weekend in the UK, the UFC is getting a shot at redemption this weekend with UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote. Despite a lack of a cool event title like "Unstoppable" or "Bad Intentions" the card does feature the seemingly unstoppable Anderson Silva and he probably has some bad intentions in store for his opponent, Patrick Cote. The middleweight title fight is obviously the most important reason why fans should be excited about the card, but it isn't the only one. Below are some of the other important factors, of what I believe are the three most important fights of the night.
1. Reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva has looked so dominant over the last two years, the only person seen as legitimate threat to end his reign, is himself. The "Spider" has recently mentioned his plans to retire when his current, six fight contract expires. At his current pace, that would mean Silva would call it a career, within the next two years. Why is that important now? Because retirement talks are usually never a good sign of being motivated. Part of what makes any athlete great, is a burning desire to be the best. Silva has already proven that and seems to already be thinking about his post fight career. If Silva's motivation is lacking, than Patrick Cote's chances of an upset go up. If Silva is focused and doesn't let anything distract him, than the hard hitting Canadian likely doesn't stand a chance. Anderson Silva VS Patrick Cote versus.
