Patrick Cote | Source: MMAWeekly.com
UFC middleweight knockout artist Patrick Cote recently spoke with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher about his upcoming battle with the always-entertaining Tom Lawlor at UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez.
After suffering a torn ACL in his attempt at Anderson Silva‘s Middleweight Championship in October of 2008, Patrick Cote was out of action for over a year and a half. When he finally returned to action at UFC 113 this past May, he did so with confidence. Unfortunately, Cote discovered that training does not always produce the same effect as remaining active in the Octagon, as he was finished in the second round when Alan Belcher locked on the fight-ending Rear Naked Choke.
“My training went very well but when the fight started I was slow and it took me a minute and a half to get comfortable in the Octagon,” Cote said about his performance. “Now I know that ring rust is real. The UFC has given me another shot so I just have to come back stronger and make my way back to the title.”
This time, Cote will travel to Anaheim, California to compete on the undercard of one of the biggest MMA events of the year. Staring at him from across the cage will be Tom Lawlor, a New England native with a penchant for putting on exciting fights.
“I think it’s a good match-up for me,” Cote said about the fight. “I’m ready to put him away before the judges’ decision. I know on my feet I’m better than him. I’m not scared of anyone in my weight class on my feet. In my last fight against Belcher I tried a few other things—the Kimura was pretty tight—but I tried some fancy move to roll onto my back to finish it instead of staying on stop and trying to finish him from the top. I just need to keep to my style and knock people out, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Patrick Cote on the attack against Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 | Source: MMAWeekly.com
While a knockout might be easier said than done–Lawlor has yet to be finished with strikes in his professional career, though he was knocked out by Ryan Bader on The Ultimate Fighter 8–Cote has made a name for himself as one of the most powerful one-punch knockout artists in the division.
“I think if he wants to exchange with me for the Fight of the Night it’s going to be a big mistake because I’m going to have the Knockout of the Night for sure,” Cote said about his opponent’s habit of engaging opponents from the opening bell. “My footwork and hand speed is going to be too much for him, but I don’t underestimate him. The last time I saw him he was kind of slow, but he stays in the pocket and he’s not afraid to exchange.”
Confident as he is in his chances of securing the victory, Cote admitted that Lawlor’s wrestling pedigree and physical strength could pose some problems.
“I expect him to try to push me against the fence and wrestle me,” Cote said. “He’s a good wrestler. He has a really good pace in the first round, so I have to be ready from the first second of the first round. He’s a bully. He’s going to go after me so I can’t underestimate his power or his chin.”
Ultimately though, Cote believes his actions, not those of his opponent, will decide the outcome of the fight.
“I’m just focused on what I have to do,” Cote said.
With both Cote and Lawlor coming off of back-to-back losses in the division, it goes without saying that their backs are against the wall. To Cote, however, the pressure to perform on Saturday night is nothing new.
“I’m always very motivated to fight, especially in the UFC,” Cote said. “It’s the best organization in the world, so every time you fight you have to give the performance of your life. I have always done well under pressure like that, so I’m going to do my thing and put him away pretty fast.”
Patrick Cote displays his punching power against Drew McFedries | Source: MMAWeekly.com
“He’s going to decide it,” Cote said regarding just how fast is ‘pretty fast’. “If he stays in front of me and exchanges with me he will go down in the first round, but if he wrestles me against the cage and used head movement I might have to play a little bit like that and then finish him in the second or third round.”
Just two years ago to the month, Cote was challenging for the UFC Middleweight Championship. Now, he is fighting for his future in the promotion. While he was reluctant to look past a fighter as aggressive and desperate as Lawlor, Cote did reveal his tentative plans for his immediate future in the UFC should he win.
“I always want the best fight that is possible for me,” Cote said. “It’s going to be a big mistake for me to look past Tom Lawlor, but if I’m able to put on a good performance, everybody knows that I want to fight Michael Bisping. We had some issues on the Internet with some trash talk, but we’ll see what happens. He thinks I disrespect him, but I don’t, that’s his problem.”
With Bisping currently riding a two-fight winning streak and coming off of a main event tilt at last weekend’s UFC 120 event, a fight with Cote might not make sense for the U.K.’s finest. Whatever happens, fans of “The Predator” are encouraged to tune into the Spike TV broadcast of the UFC 121 Prelims Live special, which airs before the Pay Per View broadcast at 9pm ET on Saturday night.
