In the featured UFC Fight Night 81 prelims, Patrick Cote overpowered Ben Saunders and finished him in the second round.
Patrick Cote defeated Ben Saunders by TKO (strikes), 1:14 of round two
Patrick Cote has gone through a fighting renaissance. The former middleweight title challenger now has a winning record for the first time in the UFC, moving to 10-9 in 19 fights with a TKO win over Ben Saunders. It wasn’t easy, but he got it done.
Saunders started out by working a kicking game on Cote, clipping both the inside and outside of the lead leg and mixing in body kicks. When Cote finally got sick of it and kicked back, Saunders took him down. Cote suprised Saunders with an armbar attempt, and used it to take top position. He managed to move Saunders over to the cage and landed a few hard shots before the end of the round.
After exchanging some kicks, Saunders decided to clinch up with Cote. That turned out to be a bad idea. Cote beat him up with uppercuts while Saunders was trying to land knees, but he held on too long and allowed Cote to land way too much. Eventually his legs gave out and Cote unloaded on him on the ground, causing the referee to step in and bring an end to the bout.
The 34-year-old Canadian has now won three fights in a row, and has finished the last two.