MONTREAL -- Patrick Cote won his UFC welterweight debut, out-pointing Bobby Voelker in a unanimous decision. All three of the cageside officials scored the UFC 158 prelim fight 29-28 for the Canadian.
That scoring was certainly debatable given Voelker's numerous takedowns and a plethora of significant strikes landed during the course of the 15 minute-bout, but the decision was accompanied by a loud cheer for the hometown fighter.
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Both fighters had their moments in the bout, which featured a lot of dirty boxing from the clinch as well as an abundance of power strikes. The fight wouldn't have even have been close had Voelker not showed a strong chin. Several times, Cote tagged him with his strong right hand, and Voelker ate it and fired back.
It was during a sequence like that when Voelker scored with a knee that caught Cote between the eyes, bloodying his face.
After a close opening two rounds, Voelker took over the third with his wrestling, dragging Cote to the ground multiple times and scoring with strikes.
When the decision was read, Voelker and his team seemed stunned. Fighting in his UFC debut, Voelker had his three-fight win streak snapped, falling to 24-9.
The popular Cote is now 19-8.