The UFC 154 middleweight bout between Patrick Cote and Alessio Sakara was clearly set up to be a standup war. It definitely was, but the ending was very unfortunate. Sakara rocked the iron-chinned Cote with standing elbows and had Cote in major trouble, but landed a bunch of punches the back of Cote’s head. Dan Mirgliotta stopped the fight when Cote slumped to the ground, and it appeared to be a victory for him. But after consulting with the commission, Cote was declared the winner by disqualification.
Predictably, the two men got down to business quickly. Cote stunned Sakara quickly and the two men beat each other up in the clinch. Sakara got wobbled by a knee, but pushed Cote against the cage and landed three huge elbows that hurt Cote. Another couple of punches put Cote down, but he grabbed onto Sakara’s leg. Sakara landed a bunch of hammerfists directly to the back of Cote’s head, which put him out and the referee jumped in. The strikes were clearly illegal.
Cote picks up his first UFC win in over four years, while Sakara dropped his third bout in a row. It seems that the two men will likely be rematching soon.