We move into slightly more legitimate territory with Silva's fight with Patrick Cote. There are a few factors to consider here: First, Cote was probably rushed into this title shot. While he was on a five-fight win streak (with four being in the UFC), the level of competition he had faced while on that streak left something to be desired. His final fight before meeting Silva was a split decision victory over Ricardo Almeida. Second, Silva didn't do much damage to Cote, but that wasn't his fault... or was it? Essentially, at UFC 90 in 2008, Silva moved, failed to engage, and the fight dragged on. Then in the third round, Cote threw a kick and landed bad, injuring his leg. He was unable to continue, and Silva earned a TKO win as a result, despite never even making contact with Cote's leg (or frankly, much contact with Cote at all). Still, those are the rules, and a win is a win. When facing criticism after the fight about his failure to engage, he stated that he had trained for a five round fight and had wanted to drag Cote into the later rounds, where he planned to attack a tired out opponent. The only problem was, we never got there. This is a fight that would be a great "what could have been" except for the fact that an active Anderson Silva in his prime would have been no match for Cote anyway.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
