Patrick "The Predator" Cote vs Ricardo "Cachorrao" Almeida: Winner to Get Middleweight Title Shot

One of the most interesting matches on the UFC 86: "Jackson vs Griffin" card is the middleweight match-up between Patrick Cote and Ricardo Almeida. The UFC have raised the stakes in this match-up by declaring that the winner will get a title shot against Anderson "Spider" Silva. This match certainly has the potential to be the match of the night, and this new stipulation will just make it even more entertaining.

Bodog currently has Patrick Cote listed as a slight -130 favorite to win this fight. Ricardo Almeida is currently even money to win.

Cote currently has a record of 12-4-0, with six of his victories coming via knockout, and three coming via submission. Cote has won his last four fights after being submitted by Travis Lutter in the Ultimate Fighter 4 finale. Since this devastating first round defeat, Cote has gone on to beat Scott Smith, Jason Day, Kendall Grove and Andrew McFedries. The last three fights have all been impressive first round knockouts. Cote was supposed to fight at UFC 83, on the same card as friend and fellow Canadian Georges St. Pierre, but apparently hurt himself playing hockey.

Cote's impressive performance against McFedries at UFC Fight Night 12 put him into consideration for a possible middleweight title shot somewhere down the line. He can earn that shot with a victory over Almeida at UFC 86.

Ricardo Almeida is no slouch and will prove to be a tough opponent for Cote. Almeida currently has a lifetime professional record of 9-2-0, with five of his victories coming via decisions, and four of his victories coming via submissions. He has never knocked out an opponent, instead preferring to rely heavily on his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu submission training. Almeida defeated Rob Yundt in his recent return to the UFC, submitting Yundt early in the first round. Almeida had a stint in the UFC in 2001 and early 2002, where he lost two of his three matches before moving on from the promotion.

This will be an interesting stylistic match-up, pitting Cote's knockout ability against Almeida's strong conditioning and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu technique.

Some fans are wondering: do either of these fighters deserve a title shot right now? If Almeida wins, does he really deserve a shot against Silva? I think that Yushin Okami also deserves a shot at the gold. I would have rather seen Okami take on Cote for the title shot, but what do I know?

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