Would a Saturday delivery of flowers to Patrick Cote’s next of kin be a little premature?

Mike - Its easy to think of the Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote fight as a predetermined win for the Brazilian. After all, Cote is the guy who went 0-4 in his first several starts in the UFC while Silva’s body count is starting to rival smallpox. But I think Cote is a bit of a dark horse in this match. First of all the guy is tough as a frozen hockey puck. In his first UFC fight he moved up a weight class and fought Tito Ortiz to a decision. In his recent fights he has shown some pretty heavy hands and some good submission defense. Cote is riding a five-fight win streak in the UFC right now. Now Silva is a nightmare and an obvious long favorite in the match. But while Silva is in Rio drinking capirinhas and working on his air-ukelele victory dance, thinking he is fighting a .500 Canuck, Cote is sequestered in Boston with Mark DellaGrotte, training for the fight of his life. It is the classic trap of a champion: After so many title fights it gets hard to get up for each one. And when you think you have a tomato can on your hands, it’s that much easier to goof off while training. A guy like Cote, who looks soft on paper but has rocks in his hands, has the potential to be a spoiler. Don’t send the flowers just yet.

Kelly - Send a gigantic bouquet to Patrick Cote and put on the card, “Congratulations for making it to the second round before becoming another victim.” Cote is looking great and is training hard, but so did Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson, and Rich Franklin (the second time around). It only takes one momentary lapse in judgment to get caught in The Spider’s web and Cote has shown that lapse in judgment before. I think he’ll make it to the second round because he’s resilient and Silva’s heart might not be in it since he keeps hinting that he’s done with this whole fighting hobby. But once Silva gets punched in the face he’ll snap back to “greatest fighter in the world” mode and pull out a James Irvin-esque finish to add to the highlight reel that makes terrorists everywhere cringe. Doped up on a fish paralyzer and bungee corded to one corner of the octagon he could still whip 99% of the world. Cote will be in Canadian La-La land floating down the fabled river of maple syrup with a LaBatt’s beer before Joe Rogan can say, “Anderson, give us your thoughts on the fight.”

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