Music: {allcanada} CANADIAN COTE RETURNS TO UFC, TO FACE CUNG LE AT UFC 148

Thursday, May 31, 2012

{allcanada} CANADIAN COTE RETURNS TO UFC, TO FACE CUNG LE AT UFC 148

TORONTO -- Montreal middleweight Patrick (The Predator) Cote is back in the UFC and will face Cung Le at UFC 148.

Cote is stepping in for former middleweight champion Rich Franklin, who has been bumped up to the UFC 147 main event to face Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva.

Silva was to have met Vitor (The Phenom) Belfort in the five-round bout on June 23 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, but Belfort injured his hand in training.

Cote (17-7) and Le (7-2) will meet on July 7 in Las Vegas at UFC 148.

"I M BACK !!!," tweeted Cote. "UFC 148 Las Vegas, july 7th vs the dangerous Cung Le! Thanks everybody for the support!"

Cote fans had mounted a campaign to get the fighter back into the UFC.

Cote has won four straight since being cut by the UFC following a three-fight losing streak.

His UFC career dates back to October 2004 at UFC 50 when he moved up a weight class on short notice to fill in for an injured fighter against Tito Ortiz. Cote lost by decision.

He won five in a row before losing a title shot to Anderson Silva at UFC 90 in 2008 when he blew out his knee.

Le, a former Strikeforce middleweight champion, is coming off a loss to Wanderlei Silva at UFC 139.