A welterweight battle between Patrick Cote and Thiago Alves has been added to the UFC 210 card.
Last month, Cote told MMANews.com that he wasn’t too thrilled with his position in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) welterweight division. His frustration was with the official UFC rankings. “The Predator” is not currently seen in the top-15. He took issue with Jake Ellenberger’s 13th spot. Ellenberger has gone 2-6 in his last eight bouts.
While Cote won’t be fighting someone ranked, he will be sharing the Octagon with a former title contender. Alves competed for the UFC welterweight championship back in July 2009 at UFC 100. To get his title opportunity, he went on a seven-fight tear including victories over Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck.
“Pitbull” fell short in his bid to become a UFC title holder. He was defeated by Georges St-Pierre by unanimous decision. Alves couldn’t thwart the superior grappling of “Rush.”
Since that fight, the American Top Team member has gone 4-5. He tried going down to lightweight, but he failed to make the 155-pound limit. He was beaten by Jim Miller back in Nov. 2016 at the historic UFC 205 event inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Cote has gone 3-1 in his last four outings. After going the distance with welterweight title contender Stephen Thompson, Cote got back in the win column against Joe Riggs. He went on to stop Josh Burkman, earning a “Fight of the Night” bonus in the process. The streak was extended to three with a TKO win over Ben Saunders.
Donald Cerrone put a stop to “The Predator’s” run back in June 2016. “Cowboy” finished Cote in the third round. It was Cote’s chance to break through in the 170-pound rankings. While a win over Alves isn’t guaranteed to put him in the top-15, it would get him back on track.
