Cote Next In Line for Anderson - But Does He Deserve It?

With Yushin Okami out of his title shot due to a broken hand, Dana White has said that the next MW title shot is going to Patrick Cote. While I don't feel like he deserves a title shot (not having beaten any top competition and all), he is pretty much the UFC's only one left at the moment.

Cote started off his UFC career with a 0-4 record. That is usually your ticket out of the UFC, but he was then placed on the comeback season of "The Ultimate Fighter". He wound up losing to Travis Lutter (who subsequently couldn't make weight for the biggest fight of his life) in the finale.

Cote rebounded and has won his last five fights in a row. Those victims included Ricardo Almeida, Drew McFedries, Kendall Grove, Jason Day, and Scott Smith. But the question remains, does he really deserve a shot at Anderson Silva? While I can name at least six Middleweights that can take out Cote, they all have one thing or another that keeps them out of a title shot:

Dan Henderson - The man is a legend in the sport of MMA. Came into the UFC with two PRIDE titles. Flaw? Currently 0-2 in the UFC and already lost to Anderson.

Nate Marquardt - Excellent MW fighter. Lost his last fight in what some say was a "controversial" decision. Flaw? Besides the last loss, already lost to Anderson.

Chris Leben - Great fighter with a lot of heart. Already beat Cote once. Flaw? Already lost to Anderson and is scheduled to fight Bisping already.

Michael Bisping - As much as I hate his accent and attitude, he looks good at MW. Flaw? Just got into the division and needs to prove himself more.

Yushin Okami - While he is a boring fighter, he has the style down to a science. He would LnP Cote out of a decision win. Flaw? Broken hand, going to be out for a bit.

Rich Franklin - The man is 8-2 in the UFC. That's all that really needs to be said. Flaw? Lost to Anderson TWICE and is scheduled to take on Matt Hamill already.

As you can see, the UFC is in quite a jam and Cote is the only one who can bail them out. Do I think he has a remote chance against Anderson? Sure, he has the same puncher's chance that everyone has against him. That is about all he has though. Good luck Patrick.