Earlier this week it was announced that Patrick Cote had signed a deal to compete with Canadian promotion Ringside MMA and he would headline an April 9 show in Montreal against an opponent to be named.
That opponent now has a name -- none other than "The Running Man" Kalib Starnes.
The promotion held a press conference on Friday to announce the fight booking.
Cote was recently released by the UFC after dropping three fights in a row. Although "The Predator" nearly reached the pinnacle of his weight class, the middleweight championship, he blew out his knee in his fight against Anderson Silva and hasn't been the same since.
It's been over two years since that injury and the excuses will have to stop if he wants to make his way back to the world's largest fight promotion. The journey begins against another former UFC middleweight, albeit one who has lived in infamy since his last fight with the organization.
The mere mention of the name Kalib Starnes elicits either a smile or a shake of the head. His fight against Nate Quarry at UFC 84 was memorable for all the wrong reasons. So memorable in fact, that nearly three full years later if you type his name into a Google search engine, the list of suggestions centers solely around his actions in that fight.
Going into that bout, the Canadian was 2-2 with the promotion and right on the fringe of being cut. When he turned in a bizarre performance that included him running around the cage and throwing a total of about 14 strikes over three rounds, it sealed the deal and he was immediately released by company President Dana White.
A return to the big leagues is highly unlikely.
Especially considering Starnes has gone an unimpressive 3-2 since leaving the big show. If he wants to get back he's still a ways off from a making a run that will impress the decision makers enough to consider a second chance.
How much would a win over Cote help that along?
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