UFC Announces UFC 90: Silva vs. Cote

From a press release in my inbox:

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Sports fans in Chicago unite! The UFC^® is coming to town and it is bringing the world's greatest pound for pound fighter, Anderson "The Spider" Silva, for a middleweight title fight against his number one contender, Patrick "The Predator" Cote.  The UFC will make its historic first trip to Chicago this fall when it presents UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE live from Allstate Arena on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008.

"Anderson Silva once again showed why he’s the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world when he moved up to light heavyweight and destroyed James "The Sandman" Irvin," said Dana White, UFC President.  "Now he drops back down to middleweight to defend his world title against Patrick Cote, a fighter on a four-fight win streak with a style that guarantees an incredible fight, wherever it goes. There is no better way to introduce Chicago to the UFC than with the championship fight Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote."

Tickets for UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE will go on sale Monday, August 18 at 10am CT starting at $50. Tickets will be available at Allstate Arena Box Office, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, Charge-By-Phone at (312) 559-1212 or online at ticketmaster.com.

UFC^® Fight Club^™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Friday, August 15 at 10am CT via the website www.ufc.com.  A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Sunday, August 17 starting at 10am CT.  To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com. 

UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE is available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).

It took Silva (22-4) just 61 seconds to defeat his last opponent, James "The Sandman" Irvin at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas July 19, but that is par for the course for "The Spider", who burst on to the UFC scene two years ago.  His list of victims started with a devastating knockout of Chris Leben in June 2006.  He followed that up with two TKOs over Rich Franklin, a submission win over Travis Lutter, a TKO over Nate Marquardt and a second round submission over PRIDE 183-pound champion Dan Henderson.  Silva, considered by most to be the most dominant force the UFC middleweight division has ever seen, now faces number one middleweight contender Patrick "The Predator" Cote.

"It's an honor to be fighting Patrick Cote in the first UFC event ever in Chicago," said Silva.  "I'm excited to take on Cote, but I am taking him very seriously; he is a dangerous striker and he likes to stand and trade with his opponents.  That's the kind of fight fans like to see, and that's definitely the fight we're going to give them Oct. 25."

Cote, (14-4) fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is on a four fight win streak in the Octagon™, beginning his string of excellence back in February of 2007 with a decision win over Scott Smith at UFC 67. Six months later, he TKO'd Kendall Grove in the first round at UFC 74, and followed that up with a first round TKO over and Drew McFedries at UFC Fight Night in January 2008.  But it was his most recent victory, a pivotal win over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 on July 5^th that propelled him to number one contender status.  Now Cote has the opportunity to join countryman Georges St-Pierre as a current Canadian UFC titleholder by taking out reigning champion Silva at UFC 90.

"Everybody that fought Anderson Silva was scared of him; I'm not scared of him one bit," said Cote.  "It's gonna take him 10 straight punches to take me down - I only need one punch to take him down.  I'm Patrick Cote, I win against grapplers and I knock strikers out. I can't wait to go to Chicago and take the belt home to Montreal."