Patrick Cote

(Silva keeps talking about the elusive "perfect fight" with "Inside MMA.")

You might think that Patrick Cote, of all people, would be somewhat sympathetic regarding the negative fan reaction after the five-round snoozer between Anderson Silva and Thales Leites at UFC 97.  You’d be wrong.  Despite being one half of a middleweight title fight that was unsatisfying for different reasons, Cote wasn’t afraid to come right out and blast Leites, telling FightHype.com the fight was “boring.”  Which, of course, we already knew.  But he didn't stop there.

("Screw it, nobody's watching anyway.")

I know, I know, you're all antsy to learn how many pay-per-view buys UFC 91 took in, and whether Dana White's estimate of 1.2 million was either strongly optimistic or batshit delusional. You'll have to be patient, because numbers from UFC 90 are just coming out now — and they aren't too encouraging. Says the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

The trending patterns as a prediction of the buy rate continued to be right on as the 10/25 show in Chicago headlined by Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote did 300,000 buys.

Silva has never been a big main-event draw, PPV-wise. His headlining appearances at UFC 82, 77, and 67 all translated to buys in the 330,000-350,000 range. But in the run-up to last month's Chicago show, the UFC had been trying extra hard to push him over as a fan-favorite, frequently repeating the talking point that UFC 90 was your chance to see the world's greatest pound-for-pound fighter in action. The Spike TV special Countdown to UFC 90 brought in a record number of viewers, which was seen as a great sign for the event's performance on pay-per-view, though MMA Payout points out that the strong viewership could have been due to having a high-rated TNA wrestling show as a lead in.

(Cote enjoying the hell out of his alternate reality.)

When I saw the video of Patrick Cote looking inebriated in a hotel room and talking about how bad he had "fucked up" Anderson Silva in their fight at UFC 90, I assumed this was something he needed to tell himself in order to enjoy his post-fight party. We all have our own pleasant fictions, and I can't begrudge a man with a blown out knee and a cut forehead from getting all hopped up on, well, whatever he was hopped up on, and telling himself a palatable story about what had happened that night.

The fact that he still believes it is a little more disconcerting. Speaking about the fight on MMA Rated Radio, Cote seems to have decided that Silva's antics weren't a show of disrespect, but rather a sign that the champ was so utterly confused in the fight that he didn't know what to do:

"I don't think it was a lack of respect. I just think my game plan was perfect. I was moving a lot, going forward but not running after him and I don't think he was expecting a lot of leg kicks like I did. He gave me a very good shot and I was still there...He didn't want to exchange, I think, with me."

That is one possible interpretation. Granted, it's the interpretation that's most generous to Cote, and the interpretation that only Cote seems to subscribe to, but it's an interpretation nonetheless. As for Silva offering his hand to help him up, Cote has an explanation for that one too:

In the latest episode of MMA Live the two sides of the 'Is Anderson Silva just a big jerk?' argument adopted here by Stephan Bonner (a fighter) and Franklin McNeil (a writer) tells us something we should have guessed from the start. That is, what you thought about that fight probably depends a great deal on how you see fighting in general.

Bonnar argues that Silva was fighting smart. It's not his obligation to finish Patrick Cote in one round, even if he can. It's his obligation to win and not do anything stupid that might jeopardize that.

McNeil takes the fan perspective, arguing that Silva owed a flashy finish to the people who had paid money to see him punch a hole in Cote's face. He also compares Silva's "playing around" to Roy Jones Jr.'s, while failing to mention how totally sweet Jones was in his prime.

The thing both men touch on is that because of who Silva is, as well as what the consensus opinion on who Cote is, Silva was in a tough spot. An immediate first-round KO might have seemed satisfactory. Maybe. And if Cote hadn't blown his knee out, if he had stuck around until Silva put him away, we might not even be talking about this. It's more a confluence of events that has us talking about Silva as if he's suddenly public enemy number one, and because of all this talk, I honestly feel sorry for his next opponent.

(It's like he saw that Condom Depot ad and became enraged. I've never seen a man who hates birth control with such a ferocious passion.)

You bastards have done it now. You fans and media with your hate mail and hate articles, accusing Anderson Silva of conduct unbecoming a champion. Now he's pissed. And Silva is not like your sister. He doesn't turn to ice cream when he's upset. He turns to awesomely destructive violence, and he would prefer to do it as soon as possible according to UFC president Dana White, who had this to say to the Las Vegas Review-Journal regarding the champ:

"He's flipping out. He wants to fight again, like, on Nov. 15," White said. "He's (upset) about his performance and he wants to fight again immediately."

Now that's the attitude you want from your champ. Of course, it's completely unreasonable to think the UFC could get him a worthy opponent in time for UFC 91, so don't get too excited. But this might be the perfect time for creative matchmaking on the UFC's part. Maybe they can't get a top-level challenger, but could they get three mid-level guys? Middleweights, light heavyweights, anyone who needs a paycheck, really. How about if Silva faces Ed Herman, Houston Alexander, and an unemployed ninja all at once?

No, that's still not fair. Okay, the ninja can use his throwing stars and Houston can use illegal knee strikes. Ed Herman, he has to show up drunk. Check that, he gets to show up drunk. This is one night he's not going to want to remember.