Patrick Cote has previously challenged for the UFC Middleweight Title, but suffered a knee injury during his fight with then champion Anderson Silva.
Cote, who has fought 20 times in the UFC, has found new life at welterweight and he wants to fight Jake Ellenberger at UFC 210.
“I think everyone knows I want to fight Jake Ellenberger,” Cote said to MMA Junkie. “Two years ago we had a couple discussions on Twitter. But let’s be honest. The guy’s only won two of his last eight fights, and he’s still ranked 12 or 13 (in the UFC rankings). That doesn’t make any sense. I’m trying to call him (out) in a polite way, in a classy way. I don’t understand why I’m not in the top 15. The only guys who beat me in the top 15 was a title contender, Stephen Thompson, a guy I think won the last fight (against Tyron Woodley for the title) and should be a champion, and ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. I want to fight him in Buffalo at UFC 210. That’s what I want. It’s close to the (Canadian) border. I love that people from Canada will be able to come and watch this show – the first time the UFC’s going back to Buffalo since the first event, and it’s going to be a big event and I want to be a part of it. I’ve wanted to fight this guy for a long time and it’s the perfect timing. It’s probably going to be the same excuse again – that he’s ranked in the top 15 and I’m not, so it’s not a good fight for him. But c’mon, man. Just watch his last fight. He almost lost his job. He was on his knees begging to keep his job. He had a good performance against Matt Brown, but after that he had a crazy, like, fake injury (against Masvidal). That was weird. So the timing is good right now.”
In his last fight at UFC Fight Night 89, Cote lost to Donald Cerrone, it was his first loss since moving to the welterweight division. Cote says he didn’t feel like himself that night and he’d love one more opportunity to fight “Cowboy.”
“I didn’t perform like I was supposed to,” he said. “I was mentally very, very tired. I’m doing a lot of stuff outside the cage now – I have a real estate company, I’m doing a lot of media, my wife was pregnant … I’m sure that if the fight happened again, it would be a different story. I’ll fight anyone who already beat me.”
UFC 210 takes place on Saturday, April 8 from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York with Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson headlining.
