Patrick Cote Moving to Welterweight; Still Hopes to Fight at UFC 158

trustkill · 12-18-2012, 09:57 PM

Patrick Cote Moving to Welterweight; Still Hopes to Fight at UFC 158 | MMAWeekly.com

Quote:

The welterweight division has added one of the hardest punchers in the sport as Patrick Cote has made the decision to drop down to 170lbs.

Cote was originally slated to fight at UFC 158 against Alessio Sakara in a rematch of their bout at UFC 154 that ended in a disqualification. Unfortunately, Sakara suffered an injury and was forced out of their bout.

That change of plans allowed Cote the time to make a decision that’s been in his mind for the past 12-months.

“We’ve been thinking about it since about a year now. I think now it’s the time,” Cote told MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday. “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.”

Cote says the plan to move to welterweight was already in place following his original fight against Sakara in November, but once the rematch was offered by the UFC he decided to go ahead with one last match-up at 185lbs.

“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,” Cote stated.

As of now, Cote is already in the process of shedding the extra weight he kept on to fight at middleweight. He’s working alongside a nutritionist to drop the pounds in a healthy manner, and is already down below 200lbs.

Following Sakara’s removal from the UFC 158 card, Cote informed the UFC of his decision to drop down to welterweight, but as of yet they have not found him a new opponent for the card coming up in Montreal.

The plan is for Cote to still compete at UFC 158, and he promises his weight will be in check and ready to go.

“In my mind the target is March 16,” Cote said about fighting at UFC 158. “If it’s not happening there I’ll be ready to fight around that, but I’m hoping to fight in Montreal.”

So much for the Sakara rematch. And extra weird considering that Sakara is out for 3 months with kidney issues, presumably caused by weight cutting.

Some interesting stuff here. Cote fought Tito at LHW, and even at MW, I thought he carried some extra chunk around the midsection. Crazy how weight cutting has influenced the sport to the point where he's now looking to make a 35 lbs cut, considering he walks around at 205 lbs, as stated in the article.

Qball1974 · 12-19-2012, 06:37 AM

Will be spending alot of time off his back at WW.

Supe · 12-19-2012, 06:38 AM

This move is about 5 years late

ckauffman28 · 12-19-2012, 07:09 AM

id think they would try a test run instead of just talking to a nutritionist before deciding to commit

lwbrewer · 12-19-2012, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckauffman28

id think they would try a test run instead of just talking to a nutritionist before deciding to commit

WHY do it wrong possibly hurt yourself like kidneys! He' got the money to do it right and have a life after fighting instead of always fighting health issues.

Fedorlei Gomipierre · 12-19-2012, 08:16 AM

I'm hearing Tim Kennedy might be dropping down to make his first WW fight against Cote, but who knows?.....

MMA4EVERRR · 12-19-2012, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedorlei Gomipierre

I'm hearing Tim Kennedy might be dropping down to make his first WW fight against Cote, but who knows?.....

Tim Kennedy too?!? Jeez, two oversized MW fighting at WW.

Frankly, I'm more upset about this aspect of fighting than undeserved title shots. Guys who fight at the right weight class, yet cant succeed there, so drop down to a smaller weight class for the sake of size advantage. The sport is moving away from fighting with skill to fighting with size.