Silva retains title in bizarre finish
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Anderson Silva spent most of the fight fooling around and not fighting, yet he still retained his UFC middleweight championship with a bizarre TKO of Patrick Cote on Saturday just 39 seconds into the third round at Allstate Arena.
Silva was running circles around the cage and generally goofing off for most of the time. Silva cut Cote with a knee in a dull first round in which little happened, and then did even less in a second round in which he seemed to want to play to the crowd rather than fight.
Cote tried to throw some kind of a leaping punch and as he did, his right knee gave way. He immediately collapsed in pain and was shrieking on the ground. Referee Herb Dean, who was initially confused, stopped the bout and gave Silva the victory.
"I want to apologize to everyone in the stadium and everyone in the arena," said Silva, who urged the upset fans not to boo Cote.
Cote apologized to the fans, but it was Silva who had the explaining to do. Cote at least was the one who was trying to make the fight, but Silva was playing with him for much of the fight.
With the win, Silva tied the UFC record for consecutive wins with eight, matching Royce Gracie and Jon Fitch.
In the semifinal match, Thiago Alves made his case as the top contender for the welterweight title with a strong victory over a game Josh Koscheck. Alves imposed his will in the stand-up and was able to fend off takedown attempts by Koscheck, who is a former NCAA Division I wrestling champion. Alves won by unanimous decision, with scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
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