Belcher was scheduled to fight Ricardo Almeida at UFC 81 but had to pull out with only three days notice due to a severe case of bronchitis. “I am still under the weather a bit, and I’m going back to the doctor (today),” Belcher said. “I still have some deep coughing that you can hear real bad in my chest.“ Despite his illness, he expects to be more than ready by April 19th to face the hard hitting Cote.

Patrick Cote, currently on a four fight winning streak with his last two fights ending in TKO victories over highly respected fighters Kendall Grove and Drew McFedries, has made a decidedly strong turnaround with his career. After starting with a dismal 0-4 record inside the UFC, he's since won his last three fights in the Octagon and started to begin regaining his contender status. However, Belcher is on a win streak of his own with his last two fights ending in decisive victories over Sean Salmon and Ultimate Fighter standout Kalib Starnes.

No matter how this fight goes, it's sure to have an impact on a strained UFC Middleweight division.

Below is the current rumored fight card :

Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre
Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter
Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes
Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy
Mac Danzig vs. Mark Bocek
Jason MacDonald vs. Joe Doerksen
Sam Stout vs. Rich Clementi
Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Jonathan Goulet
Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher
Ed Herman vs. Demian Maia