Vitor Belfort's injury has created an opportunity for Patrick Côté.
With Rich Franklin taking Belfort's place in the main event at UFC 147 against Wanderlei Silva on June 23, Cung Le was left without an opponent for his scheduled middleweight bout at UFC 148 on July 7. That spot will be filled by Côté, a former No. 1 contender for the UFC Middleweight Championship who appears to be fully recovered from the knee injury that led to his being cut by the UFC two years ago.
The 32-year-old Côté, who went 0-3 in the UFC before getting a second chance through the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter, lost in the finals of that season's middleweight tournament to Travis Lutter. However, unlike Lutter, Côté did wind up challenging Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship, going on a five-fight win streak that included two Knockout of the Night performances. In the title bout, however, Côté injured his right knee, resulting in a TKO win for Silva, and even after rehabbing for over a year, Côté was unable to get a win in his next two fights, losing to Alan Belcher and Tom Lawlor.
That led to Côté being cut from the UFC, although "the Predator" promised to return. Now, he's made good on that promise. Côté is 4-0 since being cut from the UFC, with wins over former UFC fighters Kalib Starnes and Todd Brown as part of that streak. Now, he returns to face Le, who is still looking for his first UFC win since coming over from Strikeforce last year.
Le, who himself was originally scheduled to face Belfort at UFC 139 before "The Phenom" withdrew due to injury, suffered a TKO loss to Wanderlei Silva instead. The former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion is a formidable fighter, with an undefeated 17-0 record as a kickboxer and a 7-2 MMA record, but there are definite questions about his future as a mixed martial artist. Some of that, naturally, depends on how he plans to balance his fighting career and his acting career, which includes roles in films like Pandorum with Dennis Quaid and Fighting with Channing Tatum. However, after getting TKOed by a fighter thought to be on the verge of retirement, Le has some questions to answer.
He'll get that chance against Patrick Côté.
