Patrick Cote got the better of Josh Burkman tonight at UFC Fight Night 74 as they both turned up the heat in the third round, dropping him with a right hook before finishing with ground and pound to the delight of the Canadian fans.
Round One
Burkman with a leg kick to start as Cote comes in with a punch. Side kick to the body from Burkman. Leg stomp and then a body kick from Burkman. He then attempts a spinning attack, but Cote takes his back in the process. He moves Burkman towards the cage, but isn’t able to keep him in that position.
Back to striking they go and Burkman puts together a hard combination of punches inside. Good work from him, but Cote’s always had a strong chin.
They tie up briefly then separate. Again Burkman connects with a series of strong punches and again Cote takes it and clinches up. Burkman reverse the position then Cote lands a knee as they separate.
Another side kick to the body from Burkman. Both men exchanging and Cote gets the better of it this time with a flurry of hooks.
Leg kick from Burkman, but Cote catches it and is on a single leg takedown attempt. Burkman defending against the cage though. Cote peppers him with short shots and then tries to pull him down. Burkman to a knee, but then stands again. Cote still on him in the clinch, but again gets reversed by Burkman.
Left hook lands for Cote and Burkman responds before they break apart. Cote with a little low kick followed by a flush right hand and Burkman was staggered a bit by that very hard connection. Luckily for him the round is just coming to a close and Cote doesn’t follow up aggressively. That was the best punch of the fight so far though.
Round Two:
Leg kick from Cote. Burkman unleashes a flurry of punches, but doesn’t find a home for them. Another short exchange and again a few shots miss, but one does get through for Cote.
Cote presse Burkman up against the cage. He tries to soften up his opponents with some body punches in the clinch. They separate and Cote tries a high kick.
Leg kick from Cote now. He tries a superman punch but misses. Leg kick for Burkman. Another one now and he gets out of the way of a counter from Cote. Cote lands a couple of powerful kicks.
Burkman suddenly steps in and lands a great trip takedown. He struggles to keep Cote down, but as they rise back up Burkman thinks about a guillotine choke. Cote pops out though and gets back to the center of the cage.
Cote works to the body and then upstairs. Two piece combo lands for the Canadian. Glancing right hand for Burkman. Now a more powerful right lands from him.
Cote looking to fire back, but then shoots in a takedown attempt. He’s working hard to get this single leg, but Burkman has excellent balance. Cote does manage to get him partially down, but he gets straight back up and breaks free.
Burkman misses with a loaded up hook and a spinning kick as the round comes to a close.
Round Three:
Burkman blasts away with big punches to start the final round. He clearly doesn’t want to see this one go to the judges. Cote tries to cover up and then bites down on his gumshield and fires back. Wild exchange and afterwards they give each other a brief hug as the crowd cheers them both.
Burkman clips Cote again. Now he lands with an overhand right. Suddenly Cote connects with a huge right hook in close and it floors Burkman. He’s still concious though and so Cote follows him down and starts blasting him with punches, elbows and hammerfists. The ref is right on top of them and as the onslaught continues he decides that Burkman has had enough – Cote gets the TKO victory at 1.26mins of Rd3!
