Patrick Cote
Former UFC middleweight contender Patrick ‘The Predator’ Côté (18-8) is officially set to make the move down to 170-lbs for his next fight and will take on Strikeforce fighter ‘Vicious’ Bobby Voelker (24-8) at UFC 158.
Official word comes via UFC.com, with today’s bout announcement.
Shortly after the announcement of the UFC 158 rematch between Alessio Sakara and Patrick “The Predator” Côté, Sakara was forced to withdraw from the bout for health reasons.
Perhaps inspired by the welterweight lineup on the rest of the card, Cote then announced that he would be moving to 170 pounds. Montrealer Cote has verbally agreed to make his divisional debut at that event against “Vicious” Bobby Voelker.
UFC 158: St-Pierre vs. Diaz is expected to take place on March 16, 2013 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Côté vs. Voelker bout joins three other welterweight matches on the card including the headlining title bout between champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz.
Côté earned a Disqualification win against Alessio Sakara at UFC 154 last month after his opponent ended things with illegal strieks to the back of the head. The two were to meet in a rematch but Sakara has been put on forced rest due to kidney issues.
‘The Predator’ is 4-1 in his last five bouts, but just 1-1 in his last two Octagon appearances. The French-Canadian returned to the UFC this past July at UFC 148 losing a decision to Cung Le. His previous bouts included wins with various promotions in Canada and Brazil.
Voelker will make his UFC debut at the Montreal show entering the Octagon on a three fight win streak which includes back-to-back wins over ROger Bowling. ‘Vicious’ has been on the sidelines since his last match with Bowling earning a second round TKO win in July 2011. That bout was their third bout against one another, with Voelker beating Bowling in October 2010 via TKO. The third win in that run included a split decision over Cory Devela.