From CompuStrike.com

Anderson Silva W 3 (TKO) Patrick Cote

Inside the Numbers: The tentative Silva got off just 52 total strikes through two rounds, landing 27, nine of which were leg strikes. Cote was busier in rounds one and two with 65 strikes attempted, but he landed just 13 before an injured knee forced the fight to be halted :39 into round three.

As you can see not only was Silva less active than usual he was less accurate than usual as well. He landed a tad over 50% when he usually lands at a much higher percentage than that. Cote landed one out of every 5 strikes so there goes his claim that he was taking it to Silva.

From Sherdog.com:

“There are many people saying I was disrespecting Cote, but this is absolutely not true,” Silva told Sherdog.com. “My game plan since the beginning was fight five rounds, inducing him to commit mistakes and capitalize on that during the first three rounds and look for the knockout during the fourth and fifth rounds. It was working, and the biggest proof of that is that I almost didn’t waste any blows. I connected with a couple of good punches and knees, but unfortunately he got hurt and the fight was over. This is not my fault.”

Anderson also goes on to say that he doesn't know about the rumors of him possibly facing Chuck Liddell at UFC 93.

Not according to two of mainstream media's top writers (and thus major influencers when it comes to mainstream MMA fans) -- SI.com's Josh Gross and Yahoo.com's Kevin Iole.

Here's what Gross said in his postfight recap titled "Silva's latest title defense more showboating than substance":

When Anderson Silva puts on a show with his hands and feet, it generally makes for a short night. Saturday evening at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., however, the "show" featured more dancing and showboating than punching and kicking.

For the first time in his UFC career, Silva, 33, was pushed past the second round -- and that had little to do with his opponent. Defending the UFC middleweight belt against Patrick Cote, expectations demanded a resounding performance. Instead, the dangerous champion strutted his way through two-plus rounds before Cote fell to the canvas when his right knee gave way 39 seconds into the third.

And, here's what Iole said in his recap, titled "Silva’s actions unbefitting his stature":

On Saturday, he delivered another act that was not so becoming of an athlete of his stature.

In a lame attempt at humor, Silva made a mockery of himself, his title and his sport in one of the most bizarre matches in UFC history.

In fact, Iole reports that Silva apologized afterwards for his performance:

“I apologize,” Silva said. “I worked hard in training to go four or five rounds. I dropped from 230 pounds to 205 and then to 185. I worked my butt off. I had a long camp preparing for the fight. I owe you guys in the media, the fans and everyone an apology. I was prepared, but it’s unfortunate what happened.”

We've heard reports that Silva is planning to and wants to retire soon. Was his UFC 90 fight performance confirmation of this fact? If his heart is no longer in it, I would rather see him retire now than put on more performances like the one at UFC 90. While there is still no one in his league, nonchalance inside the Octagon could have devastating consequences both for Silva's health and his legacy.

Here is the third of three sets of FightTicker.com UFC 90 roundtable picks: the middleweight title bout between champ Anderson Silva and challenger Patrick Cote. (For Tyson Griffin-Sean Sherk picks click here. For Josh Koscheck-Thiago Alves picks, click here.)

From MMANews.com:

"I think it's going to be real fun." "Cote is going to come out and stand up with me and it will be exciting and entertaining. He's going to hit me and I'm going to hit him a few times and we'll see what happens."

"I believe the confidence that Patrick Cote has is a good thing." "Every fighter should be confident and the same way he's confident I'm confident. If Cote thinks he's going to knock me out or submit me in the third round that's a good thing to think that. But there is an opportunity that he might get knocked out or submitted. I believe everybody is beatable and that's what makes this sport so interesting."

If his English was better Silva would be the new face of the UFC. He embodies all that is great about this sport. He is a tireless worker, a very gracious and humble winner and respectful of all his opponents and of mixed martial arts as a whole. He is also incredible to watch given his grace and power. This guy has it all and we are fortunate to be watching one of the greatest fighters of this era in his prime.

From CagePotato.com:

Well, we’re officially disturbed. This picture of Patrick Cote, um, blowing off some steam(?) was sent to us by mini at hithiphop.com and we immediately wished we had never seen it. So we did what any responsible internet types would do: we forced it on you, our readers. Enjoy your nightmares.

We don’t begrudge a guy his right to have a few too many (at least we hope alcohol was involved) and do things he’ll later wish he hadn’t. But when we picture the guy who’ll finally bring Anderson Silva’s tremendous winning streak to an end, this isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

What is this description describing, you ask? A few pictures of Patrick Cote kicking back with his friends like most guys do - hanging out with a buddy wearing a banana hammock while slapping your own ass.

Yeah - click on the link for pictures, but be warned, it's not pretty. No overt nudity or anything, but still....not pretty. I didn't post one directly on here because I like you guys too much to do that.

To Cote's credit, maybe these photos were taken months ago, weeks ago, or even a year ago - who knows? And far be it for me to judge a guy who had a few too many drinks (Coors reference - I don't know if that's what he was actually drinking, or if he was drinking at all) before some moron pulled out a camera.

Does this do anything to help Cote? No. But does it really do anything to hurt Cote? No. Stupid pictures won't hurt his cardio. Sure, there may be some image issues for a while, and if he was inebriated on more than alcohol in those pictures (see the last one), that could prompt the UFC, or a state athletic commission to issue a hasty drug test.

But besides that, it's not going to hurt him when he steps into the cage - that's Anderson Silva's job.

A senseless post is a fun every now and then.

By the way - I mean no offense to Canadian people who don't act like morons. Using the word Canadian just helped with the alliteration.

-PreView