MMAJunkie
Another Strikeforce fighter has found his way over to the UFC, and Patrick Cote has his new opponent for UFC 158.
Bobby Voelker (24-8 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will meet Cote (18-8 MMA, 5-8 UFC) in March when the UFC returns to Montreal. Promotion officials on Friday announced the new fight booking. It will be Voelker's first fight in 20 months, as well as Cote's debut at welterweight.
UFC 158 is set for March 16 at Montreal's Bell Centre. The card is headlined by the welterweight title defense of Georges St-Pierre against Nick Diaz and also features a rematch between Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit, the only fighter to beat him, and bout between welterweight title contender Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger.
Voelker will enter the bout on a three-fight win streak that includes a pair of second-round TKOs of Roger Bowling in Strikeforce. In the pair's first fight in May 2010, Bowling won a technical decision after an accidental eye poke. The two rematched in October 2010, but that time Voelker came out on top. Strikeforce ordered up the trilogy fight for July 2011, and again Voelker won by TKO to improve to 4-1 in Strikeforce.
But the Kansas City-based fighter been on the sidelines since then. Now, with the announcement that Strikeforce's Jan. 12 show will be its last on Showtime, and presumably last show, period, he becomes the latest fighter from the promotion to migrate to the UFC.
Cote was expected to rematch Alessio Sakara at UFC 158, a rematch from their fight just this past month at UFC 154, also in Montreal. In that fight, which lasted just 86 seconds, Cote rocked Sakara, then had the tables turned and was finished by him. But Sakara eventually was disqualified for strikes to the back of Cote's head.
The rematch was ordered up, but Sakara had to pull out of the fight earlier this week,
citing kidney issues and doctor's orders
, just two days after it was announced. With Cote's drop to 170 pounds, another fight later with Sakara appears unlikely.
Cote announced his drop to welterweight earlier this week on
, stating: "After a year of thinking and good talk with my coaches and [nutritionist, it's] time. My next fight will be at 170. Thanks for the support."
Cote returned to the UFC this past July, but lost a unanimous decision to Cung Le at UFC 148. The win over Sakara, albeit by DQ, was his first victory in the promotion since a July 2008 split decision win over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86.
At the time, that made him 4-4 in the UFC with four straight wins in the promotion after starting 0-4 in three separate stints, including a runner-up finish at middleweight on Season 4 of "The Ultimate Fighter." After that loss to Travis Lutter, he rattled off five straight wins, and four in the UFC, to get a middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva.
But in that title bout at UFC 90, Cote blew his knee out in the third round, giving him a TKO loss. He returned 18 months later and lost to Alan Belcher in Montreal at UFC 113. And a loss to Tom Lawlor at UFC 121 sent him back outside the organization again.
Four wins in a year's time got him back, but the loss to Le gave him another four-fight skid in the promotion. The DQ win over Sakara likely saved his job in the octagon, and now he'll be looking for a win that comes without an asterisk next to it.
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