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Patrick "The Predator" Cote has spent more than a year battling back through a long rehabilitation process after severely injuring his knee in a title fight with middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Cote began a promising MMA career fighting in his native Canada, and it was not long before the young fighter's knockout power and undefeated record brought him to the attention of the UFC. Cote made his UFC debut as a light-heavyweight, dropping a unanimous decision to Tito Ortiz at UFC 50 in what would mark the start of a familiar pattern - as talented as Cote was, and despite the fact that he kept winning in other promotions, success continued to elude him in the UFC.
The Predator dropped his first three UFC fights, and although for many fighters that would have marked the end of the line with the organization, Cote got one more chance, as a middleweight on The Ultimate Fighter 4 "The Comeback". Cote finally saw some success during his time on the show, advancing all the way to the finale to face Travis Lutter and get one more chance on the big stage. Once again, he lost.
Instead of being discouraged, Cote used the loss to Lutter to re-energize himself, changing his training camp and pushing himself harder in the gym. The changes paid off, and at his next UFC appearance, just three months after after his loss to Lutter, Cote finally earned his first UFC win, notching a unanimous decision victory over Scott Smith at UFC 67.
After the victory Cote never looked back, going on a five-fight winning streak and fighting his way into contention for a title shot against a man many were already talking about as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, Anderson "The Spider" Silva.
At the time Cote stepped up to face Silva, no one in the UFC had ever taken "The Spider" out of the second round. Cote changed that, forcing Silva to respect the power in his hands as he took the center of the Octagon and showed his notoriously tough chin by seeming to shrug off the best shots the champ hit him with.
Unfortunately for Cote, early in the third round he came down on a bad angle after throwing a kick, causing what turned out to be a devastating injury to his right knee. Cote was unable to continue the fight, and Silva was awarded a victory by TKO.
Now having successfully rehabbed that injury, Cote took time out to share his thoughts about the fight with Silva, his injury and recovery, his upcoming fight with Alan Belcher, and Silva's upcoming fight with Vitor Belfort with TheMMANews.com. Below are some of the highlights from that interview:
Cote on his fight with Anderson Silva:
"I felt great going into this fight. We had a good game plan and it was really fun to fight the best fighter in the world and to have a chance to win the title. Like I said I lost the fight but I don't think he beat me. I felt good and I took his best punch and I didn't feel bad, I think I was still in the fight when the injury happened. What happened was that my knee dislocated and everything broke inside except the bone, the ACL, MCL, meniscus and all the cartilage. It was just bad luck and bad timing. If I fight him again I think I am going to do...
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