Patrick Cote Moving to Welterweight; Still Hopes to Fight at UFC 158

The welterweight division has added one of the hardest punchers in the sport as Patrick Cote has made the decision to drop down to 170lbs.

Cote was originally slated to fight at UFC 158 against Alessio Sakara in a rematch of their bout at UFC 154 that ended in a disqualification. Unfortunately, Sakara suffered an injury and was forced out of their bout.

That change of plans allowed Cote the time to make a decision that’s been in his mind for the past 12-months.

“We’ve been thinking about it since about a year now. I think now it’s the time,” Cote told MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday. “I was a pretty decent middleweight a couple years ago, but now those guys are really, really big. They’re cutting from like 230, 225, and I’m walking around at 205 so I spoke with my coach and my nutritionist and it’s doable so we’re going to do it.”

Cote says the plan to move to welterweight was already in place following his original fight against Sakara in November, but once the rematch was offered by the UFC he decided to go ahead with one last match-up at 185lbs.

“I was staying at 185 because of this rematch, but it’s not going to happen. We’re not sure when he’s going to be ready to fight, so for me it was just the right time to do it,” Cote stated.

As of now, Cote is already in the process of shedding the extra weight he kept on to fight at middleweight. He’s working alongside a nutritionist to drop the pounds in a healthy manner, and is already down below 200lbs.

Following Sakara’s removal from the UFC 158 card, Cote informed the UFC of his decision to drop down to welterweight, but as of yet they have not found him a new opponent for the card coming up in Montreal.

The plan is for Cote to still compete at UFC 158, and he promises his weight will be in check and ready to go.

“In my mind the target is March 16,” Cote said about fighting at UFC 158. “If it’s not happening there I’ll be ready to fight around that, but I’m hoping to fight in Montreal.”