Cote: “I F*cked Him Up Really Bad” (!)
Wow…the delusions you suffer when Anderson Silva allows you to reach round three. As you can see in this video from MMACanada, Patrick Cote has a rather inflated sense of his own toughness following Saturday night’s debacle. After explaining that his knee was actually toast by the end of the second round, the Predator launches into the money quote:
“I proved to everybody that this guy’s not unbeatable. I think I fucked him up really bad [‘you fucked him up’ and ‘oh, big time’ his friends shout, possibly sarcastically]. My gameplan was good and I think he was scared to exchange with me. I received all his best punch and all his best knee and I was still there.”
Well, that’s a matter of opinion. It’s still unclear what was going through Silva’s head during those first two rounds, but I wouldn’t assume that he was scared of Cote (who never gave Silva reason to be), and the small handful of bored strikes he threw certainly did not represent “his best punch and his best knee.” Far from it. What we saw at UFC 90 was Anderson Silva at his most ineffective. Though hey, maybe he was going to make something happen in the championship rounds. Cote would also like you to know that he didn’t fake the knee injury, and he thought it was a little bit rude when Silva offered his hand to help him during the fight. Okay? Now let’s all forget that this ever happened.
Dana White, it should be noted, was understandably disappointed with Silva’s performance, and didn’t think it had anything to do with fear of Cote.
As he told MMA Weekly:
“I’ve seen guys who get thrown out of their rhythm, or can’t find their range, or just can’t seem to get off, and maybe that’s what happened…Anderson Silva’s the nicest guy in the world — [but] he doesn’t help people up in the Octagon. He’s a killer when that bell rings…It was weird. Anderson Silva was in a different place tonight.”
White added this on ESPNRadio1100:
“What else am I supposed to believe? Am I supposed to believe that he came out to not throw one punch or not do anything for three rounds? I don’t believe that. All I know is I wanted to put my head through the table I was sitting at. You ever watch Star Trek? I wanted to transport myself back to Vegas in my bed.”
So what did you make of Silva’s bizarre performance? Was it a public protest at not being given tougher competition? A failed attempt to make the fight interesting by stretching it out? Or has success officially changed Anderson Silva from a humble killer to a disinterested, douchey show-off?