Patrick Cote (12-4) slipped some ice, sprained his knee and will be unable to compete on the UFC 83: "Serra vs. St. Pierre II" card at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, on April 19, according to FightNetwork.com.
Alan Belcher (12-4) -- the man who "The Predator" was supposed to take on in the middleweight bout -- will instead throw leather with Jason Day (15-5). In fact, according to the report, rumors that Cote and Belcher would square off in the first place were completely inaccurate.
Here's a snip from Cote's manager, Stephane Patry:
"We were still talking [to the UFC] about an opponent when Patrick fell on the ice. He went for the MRI, and the doctor told him it's sprained and he can't train for four to six weeks – so he won't be available to fight [in April]... We were not going to take that fight [with Belcher] anyway. It wouldn't make sense."
Zing! I'm not so sure about that last comment, Stephane.
Anyway, it's bad news for Cote, who was looking forward to fighting in front of his hometown crowd. Perhaps now he will take up the UFC on its offer to be involved in the telecast as a guest announcer ... stay tuned.
As for the fight, Day is a solid Canadian fighter who most recently defeated David Loiseau via controversial split decision (aren't they all?) at Hardcore Championship Fighting: "Destiny" earlier this month. He's on a four-fight win streak since losing to Cote via technical knockout in June 2007 in a TKO event.
This will mark his Octagon debut.
Belcher was booked to take on Ricardo Almeida at UFC 81: "Breaking Point" just a few weeks ago; however, he had to withdraw just days before the event because of a severe bronchitis infection.
"The Talent" has won his last two bouts against Kalib Starnes and Sean Salmon.
For the most recent UFC 83 fight card click here.
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