(Welterweight, middleweight, we don’t care. Just don’t ever lose that twinkle in your eyes, you handsome son of a bitch.)
Although Patrick Cote managed to secure his first UFC win since 2010 at UFC 154 last month (by way of DQ), we’re still not quite sure if his decision to cut down to welterweight falls into “last ditch effort to save career” territory or not. Regardless, Cote recently told MMAWeekly that he is planning on cutting down to 170 for his next bout now that his UFC 158 rematch with Alessio Sakara has been cancelled due to Sakara’s kidney issues. His reasoning: They build middleweights a lot bigger than they used to.
We’ve been thinking about it since about a year now. I think now it’s the time. I was a pretty decent middleweight a couple years ago, but now those guys are really, really big. They’re cutting from like 230, 225, and I’m walking around at 205 so I spoke with my coach and my nutritionist and it’s doable so we’re going to do it.
Although it seems like Cote might be exaggerating those numbers a little bit, one must first consider that Anthony Johnson walks around at upwards of 230 pounds and used to fight in the same division Cote is shrinking down to. Hell, Thiago Alves still fights at 170 and that dude regularly eats Adam Richman under the table in between training camps.
Still, Cote could quickly find himself up shit creek without a paddle at welterweight. Maybe it’s just us, but we kind of look at Cote as the rich man’s (or perhaps just upper middle class man’s) Scott Smith, ie. a powerful, albeit limited striker with subpar grappling. Cote has fought as high as 205 before and has shown in his losses to Cung Le and Alan Belcher that he doesn’t exactly have the fastest footwork at middleweight, let alone in the deep waters of the welterweight division.
We’re not counting him out, we’re just saying that sometimes cutting weight isn’t necessarily the best move to jump start one’s career in as high-level a promotion as the UFC. For a perfect example of this, look no further than Scott Smith, who attempted the same weight cut under the Strikeforce banner in 2010-2011, only to get faceplant KO’d by Paul Daley and picked apart by Tarec Saffiedine before moving back up to 185. And don’t even get us started on James Irvin…*shudders*
However, Cote also claimed that he was only holding out at 185 for his rematch with Sakara. But now that that fight has been cancelled, “The Predator” would still like to fight at UFC 158 in his native Canada if the option is still available.
I was staying at 185 because of this rematch, but it’s not going to happen. We’re not sure when he’s going to be ready to fight, so for me it was just the right time to do it.
In my mind the target is March 16. If it’s not happening there I’ll be ready to fight around that, but I’m hoping to fight in Montreal.
So what do you think, Potato Nation? Is this a good move for Cote and if so, who would you like to see him square off against at 170?