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The theme for UFC 158 is the 170 lbs division. Three main card bouts are exclusively in the welterweight division, and even this likely preliminary card matchup is also at 170. Patrick Cote has an opponent for his welterweight debut, and it's a familiar Strikeforce name. From MMA Junkie:
Bobby Voelker (24-8 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will meet Cote (18-8 MMA, 5-8 UFC) in March when the UFC returns to Montreal. Promotion officials on Friday announced the new fight booking. It will be Voelker's first fight in 20 months, as well as Cote's debut at welterweight.
Voelker is best known for his Strikeforce trilogy with Roger Bowling, with Bobby taking 2 of the 3 fights. He has heavy hands and hasn't been KO'd since 2008 by former UFC fighter Kevin Burns. As the article stated, Voelker hasn't fought in a long time, with the 3rd fight with Bowling in the summer of 2011 standing as his most recent bout.
Cote is coming off a crazy battle with Alessio Sakara at UFC 154, also in Montreal. Both men were hurt early as they traded hard strikes, but it was Cote who was stopped with strikes. The problem? Sakara landed just about all of his finishing blows to the back of the head, and Cote won by DQ. They were set to rematch at UFC 158, but Sakara withdrew due to medical issues.
An interesting quirk about "The Predator", Cote had lost his first 4 UFC fights, won his next 4 en route to a title shot against Anderson Silva, lost 4 in a row again, and now he's in the "win" column through DQ. The mathematical pattern suggests that Cote will win this one!
UFC 158 takes place in Montreal on March 16th, and the main event is the welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz. Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald take up the co-main slot in a rematch of their memorable FOTN showdown from 2010, and Jake Ellenberger fights Johny Hendricks to see who will get passed over for the next title shot.
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