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UFC 80

UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Allstate Arena
Chicago, IL

To me, there are 4 champions currently competing in MMA who have proven to be truly dominant over top level competition: BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko and...Anderson Silva. To try to rank them over or below each other is a micromanager’s tribute to speculative boredom. “Pound For Pound” discussions are strictly opinion, with no way to ‘prove’ the claim. “Fantasy MMA,” oh brother...

Anderson Silva (Champion)

Vs.

Patrick Cote (Challenger)

I know the hype around Anderson is high at the moment, but he deserves it. Since I’ve had the pleasure of calling the action on Silva’s rise and fall in Pride, and his resurrection in Cage Rage, I truly know what a long road he has traveled to get to the top. The man set his sights and never wavered in his self-belief. And on top of ‘just’ being a fight/champion, he is an original.

Timing is everything. By the time he entered the UFC, Anderson's confidence was back and he was ready to explode.

His one-way beating of Ultimate smack talker Chris Leben was an impressive introduction for Silva into the Octagon. And the title winning victory over Rich Franklin, along with his defenses over Pancrase king Nate Marquardt, the Franklin redux and Travis Lutter did nothing to dispel his growing momentum. But when he beat Dan Henderson, to me THAT was his crowning moment. Not to belittle Anderson’s previous competition, but Hendo was the best and most decorated fighter he had ever faced. Yet Dangerous Dan was finished in the second round! There was no doubt; Anderson Silva was now the greatest middleweight on the planet.

Patrick Cote doesn’t have the high level of success that the champion does. His introduction into the UFC came when Tito Ortiz was to rematch Guy Mezger, but Mezger was forced to withdraw because of a medical injury. So Cote, a brash middleweight, said he would knock out and dethrone Ortiz and as a result was given the green light to replace Mezger. And there was one moment in the match where Patrick caught the champ (Ortiz) on the button and looked like he was on his way to glory. But Tito was too crafty and rode out a familiar ground-based decision.

Cote has had respectable wins too, including decisions over Scott Smith and Ricardo Almeida and TKOs over Drew McFedries and Kendall Grove.

However, Anderson’s three-inch height advantage will be a significant plus in the standing war. Cote must constantly be wary of the knee or the high kick, but at the same time he must move forward through those minefields and hurt Anderson with punches. If he hangs back and stays on the outside he will get taken apart. Silva has had some high profile losses in Pride but they were by submission (Daiju Takase/Triangle, Ryo Chonan/heel hook). But because Patrick Cote is a stand and slug kind of guy, I don’t see a threat to Silva on the mat.

And as I said before, timing is everything. And this is the wrong time to challenge Anderson Silva. Unlike other recent fighters and champions, Silva’s resolve is steady and unaffected by his celebrity. I feel Anderson Silva will continue his winning ways, most likely by TKO. His pinpoint accuracy is too much for anyone in the division, even someone with the knockout credentials of Cote. Silva by TKO.

Thiago Alves

Vs.

Josh Koscheck

Diego Sanchez was Thiago’s original opponent until an injury forced him out. Josh Koscheck got the call and manned up by taking this, a very risky fight. Because...Thiago is hot off his destruction-laden trail of the once dominant Matt Hughes, Karo Parisyan and Chris Lytle. Koscheck himself is a respectable up and comer as well with decisions over Lytle and Diego Sanchez. And his decision loss to the best welterweight in the world, Georges St. Pierre, speaks almost more than those two aforementioned victories.

Styles DO make fights and Josh’s evolving momentum will present an obstacle for the Brazilian. But Koscheck MUST go back to his wrestling roots and get this fight to the floor to be competitive. Standing with Alves is not a wise move. But Josh might not have a choice because Thiago is rolling fast and hard and I expect him to take this one by decision.

Sean Sherk

Vs.

Tyson Griffin

This match, among other things, just re-enforces the fact that the UFC has the deepest pool of available talent in the sport. A fight of this caliber is really close to being a co-main event. Style wise, Sherk and Griffin are mirror images of each other.
Griffin has worked tirelessly on his standup but hasn’t been able to deliver an ending in that department. Former UFC lightweight champion Sherk is basically in the same boat, but lets be real, he’s faced the best in the game: BJ Penn, Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. True, he lost to all those giants, but so have many/most.

Like the fight Sherk had with Penn, this will be a battle of attrition, but he will prove to be a fierier competitor than Griffin and will be stronger standing, as well as in the clinch. The loss will make Tyson a better fighter and transport him to the next level.

I pick Sean Sherk by decision.

Gray Maynard

Vs.

Rich Clemente

Although his fighting style is completely different than “The Iceman,” I consider Gray Maynard, 6-0, to be in a similar position to where Chuck Liddell was circa 2000-2002. In that time frame Chuck only had one early career loss, before he started mopping the floor in the UFC with guys like Kevin Randleman (KO), Renato Sobral (KO), Murilo Bustamante (decision) and Vitor Belfort (decision). But he just wasn’t a quote machine and not surprisingly didn’t get his chance at becoming a star until later. In the meantime, he had to wait. So will Maynard...

Gray is that good fight wise, but doesn’t have that much desired/polished TV image...yet. Chuck had to wait in line until the peacock; Tito Ortiz in this case, grew stale/asked for a raise/became a problem for the company. Then the quiet man was activated and allowed to face the Huntington Beach Bad toy, and the rest is history.

But at lightweight, BJ Penn is quite a bigger potential problem for Maynard than Tito was for Chuck at light-heavyweight. Still, aside from Penn, I’ll go out on a limb and prognosticate that Gray can beat many, if not most, upper tier lightweights in the UFC universe RIGHT NOW. But the TV ratings machine will have to play out fully before they sic him on those who have a proven draw.

Rich Clemente is a solid, experienced and known (he was on a season of The Ultimate Fighter) competitor. But his problems will only begin once he inevitably finds himself underneath Maynard and his gravitational onslaught. Maynard by TKO.

Stephen Quadros, "The Fight Professor", has worked as a host and play-by-play commentator for some of the world's greatest fight organizations including: PRIDE, K-1 and Inoki Bom Ba Ye. He currently balances his activities between acting, working as a analyst/color commentator for Showtime Networks (EliteXC, ShoXC), choreographing fight scenes for feature films and playing drums for the bands Snow, 7th Sun and Whipped Cream. Visit Mr. Quadros on the worldwide web at: www.StephenQuadros.com or MySpace.com/StephenQuadros.