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Patrick Cote doesn’t want to be known as a runner up. Cote, The Ultimate Fighter 4 finalist, is looking to work his way back up the ladder towards a chance for a title shot; an opportunity that slipped away as Travis Lutter defeated him in the series finale. Cote bounced back with a win against Scott Smith in February this year and followed it up in June with a TKO win in Canada versus Jason Day. Standing in his path now is The Ultimate Fighter 3 middleweight winner Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove.
The two are dynamic fighters are always game for a battle when they bell rings. They expect no less this time around. “I think it’s going to be a hell of a fight”, predicts “The Predator” Cote, who opens the UFC 74 pay per view card with Grove. “This guy has improved a lot in every fight, but I’m confident in my skills and I had a great training camp, a perfect training camp.” Cote asserts it’s been an injury free camp and it’s going to pay off for the live Vegas crowd and pay per view buyers. “We’re going to go out there and bang and put on a great show for the fans.” Since his last bout in the Octagon against Scott Smith six months ago, some people questioned Cote’s killer instinct he rocked Smith but didn’t go unleash for the finish. This time around Cote is looking to take the outcome out of the hands of the judges. “You always want to finish the fight before the judges decision, you don’t want to put the fight into hands of other people”, comments Cote, who’s looking to decide his own fate after losing a close judges decision versus Chris Leben in August 2005. “I had some not good situation with the judges when I fought Leben, so especially from this fight I want to finish the fight”, adds Cote.
With two of his 4 losses in MMA being to submissions (Lutter–armbar, Doerksen–rear naked choke), some are curious as to whether or not Cote will be able to handle the Jiu-Jitsu arsenal of Grove. Cote feels that Grove securing a submission on him is not going to be an easy task by any stretch. “I improved a lot of my wrestling and ground game”, comments Cote on his progress since his last UFC bout. “I did my homework for this fight and had a really good training camp, so I’m very comfortable everywhere and want to show everybody that I’m well rounded and I can finish a fight anywhere.” With his experience training with BTT Canada in Montreal, Cote professes no fear if the fight hits the mat. Being tapped out by Groves is a thought he doesn’t allow to enter his mind. “I can’t see him submitting me”, asserts Cote. “I’ve rolled with BJJ blackbelts here and in Montreal and I do well against those guys and those guys aren’t able to finish me when we do MMA sparring.” The ground has been deemed safe territory in his mind.
Cote however is anticipating a standup battle to ensue at some point in the bout. Not shy about trading strikes, Cote is confident he is the superior striker and feels he will prove it when the two engage on the feet. “He will probably have problems on the feet if he wants to bang with me”, notes Cote. Increased confidence in his Muay Thai skills comes from training with Mark DellaGrotte in Boston. “In Boston here I’ve trained a lot on my standup, but I’ve trained with Kenny Florian and a couple of a couple of other blackbelts and it’s real MMA training, it’s not just Muay Thai training”, comments Cote, from the Sityodtong academy in Boston. “But for sure when I come here it’s to improve my Muay Thai skills.” While his heavy handed fists are his bread and butter from his striking arsenal, he’s incorporated more kicking into his game working with DellaGrotte. And Cote’s quite open about the fact that he’s looking to chop down the lanky middleweight with shin strikes. “Kendall should be ready for a couple kicks to come his way, because he has long legs and it’s no secret to everybody that I’m going to try and use that”, notes Cote.
At 6’6, the long frame of Grove is something that Cote will have to adjust to. But it’s not completely foreign territory for Cote, who took on the enormous Canadian Ricardeau Francois in January 2005. “My fight against Francois, the guy was 6’8 and it was at 205 too”, notes Cote. “I wasn’t in good shape for that fight, I wasn’t nearly the same fighter that I am now”, adds Cote, who feels it was not by any means his best performance. His sparring in Boston for this bout includes training partners who are in the 6’4, 6’5 range and larger than Grove. Cote’s wrestling team in Montreal includes larger 6’3 and 6’4 competitors as well. “I did great against those guys too’, adds Cote, who feels with all the tall training partners in his camp, it’s the perfect time to fight a fighter with Groves’ dimensions.
While having more fights under his belt, and battles with tougher opponents than Grove, Cote will not let his experience allow him to get into a state of overconfidence. “If you’re in the UFC it’s because you’re a tough guy, there’s no stepping stone in the UFC”, says Cote. “If the guy in front of you is in the same Octagon as you it’s because this guy is a tough guy, so you have to go out there and prove that you’re better than him.”
Cote is looking to prove that on August 25th.
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