Sidelined for well over a year due to a pair of knee injuries, hard-hitting Canadian striker Patrick “The Predator” Côté will return to the Octagon against Alan “The Talent” Belcher at UFC 113 in Montreal, Québec on May 1st. Côté confirmed the fight earlier today.
Côté has not competed since suffering a meniscus tear in his UFC Middleweight Championship bout with Anderson “The Spider” Silva at UFC 90. A second knee injury kept him out of action throughout 2009 and he will face a tough test in Belcher, who has won three of his last four fights.
Côté (13-5-0) has never lost outside of the UFC, but went winless inside the Octagon until a 2007 war with Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith. He won four more fights to earn the shot with Silva and did well in the title tilt, but injured his knee in the second round and was forced to retire from the fight early in round three. Côté has never been knocked out and is widely regarded as having one of the best chins in all of mixed martial arts.
Belcher (15-6-0) has experienced mixed success in the UFC. An embarrassing loss to Jason “Dooms” Day derailed Belcher’s hopes for a title shot and he was fortunate to escape with a Split Decision win over Ed “Short Fuse” Herman at UFC Fight Night 15. However, Belcher picked up the biggest win of his career when he submitted former PRIDE ace Denis “Super Korean” Kang at UFC 93 and he is coming off of an impressive stoppage of Wilson Gouveia.
The middleweight bout will be a featured part of the UFC’s return to Montreal and Côté will enjoy the support of his hometown fans. The pair were first set to face each other at UFC 83 when the promotion first travelled north of the border, but Côté was forced to withdraw due to injury. Two years later, they will finally meet inside the cage.
UFC 113 takes place on May 1st at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The event is headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)