It took Silva (22-4) just 61 seconds to defeat his last opponent, James "The Sandman" Irvin at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas July 19, but that is par for the course for "The Spider", who burst on to the UFC scene two years ago. His list of victims started with a devastating knockout of Chris Leben in June 2006. He followed that up with two TKOs over Rich Franklin, a submission win over Travis Lutter, a TKO over Nate Marquardt and a second round submission over PRIDE 183-pound champion Dan Henderson. Silva, considered by most to be the most dominant force the UFC middleweight division has ever seen, now faces number one middleweight contender Patrick "The Predator" Cote.
"It's an honor to be fighting Patrick Cote in the first UFC event ever in Chicago," said Silva. "I'm excited to take on Cote, but I am taking him very seriously; he is a dangerous striker and he likes to stand and trade with his opponents. That's the kind of fight fans like to see, and that's definitely the fight we're going to give them Oct. 25."
Cote, (14-4) fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is on a four fight win streak in the Octagon, beginning his string of excellence back in February of 2007 with a decision win over Scott Smith at UFC 67. Six months later, he TKO'd Kendall Grove in the first round at UFC 74, and followed that up with a first round TKO over and Drew McFedries at UFC Fight Night in January 2008. But it was his most recent victory, a pivotal win over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 on July 5th that propelled him to number one contender status. Now Cote has the opportunity to join countryman Georges St-Pierre as a current Canadian UFC titleholder by taking out reigning champion Silva at UFC 90.
"Everybody that fought Anderson Silva was scared of him; I'm not scared of him one bit," said Cote. "It's gonna take him 10 straight punches to take me down - I only need one punch to take him down. I'm Patrick Cote, I win against grapplers and I knock strikers out. I can't wait to go to Chicago and take the belt home to Montreal."
Tickets for UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE are available at the Allstate Arena Box Office, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, Charge-By-Phone at (312) 559-1212 or online at ticketmaster.com. UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE is also available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer's Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).
The remaining bouts for UFC 90 will be announced in the near future. All bouts live and subject to change. For further information on the UFC visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.
About The Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world's leading professional mixed martial arts organization and offers the premier series of MMA sports events. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC produces over twelve live pay-per-view events annually that are distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iNDEMAND Networks, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN Entertainment, Shaw Pay-Per-View, Bell ExpressVU, Viewers Choice, SaskTel Max and via the Internet worldwide on Yahoo! Sports, and commercially through Joe Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada. In addition to its North American distribution, UFC programming is distributed in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world. For more information, or current UFC fight news, visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting, UFC, The Ultimate Fighter, Submission, As Real As It Gets, Zuffa™, The Octagon and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, trademarks, trade dress or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC or other respective owners.
UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE
Allstate Arena
Saturday
312-559-1212
www.ufc.com
