UFC 154 Update: Patrick Cote Clashes with Alessio Sakara Nov. 17 in Montreal

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A middleweight confrontation between veterans Patrick Cote and Alessio Sakara has been given the green light for UFC 154, promotion officials announced Friday.

UFC 154 takes place Nov. 17 at the Bell Centre in Montreal and is expected to be headlined by a welterweight title unification bout pitting returning champion Georges St. Pierre against interim belt holder Carlos Condit. The pay-per-view broadcast will also showcase an additional clash of 170-pound standouts in the evening’s co-main event, as hard-hitting wrestler Johny Hendricks meets well-rounded Dane Martin Kampmann.

Cote, 32, is a veteran of 25 professional outings. The Quebec native made his Octagon debut back in 2004 and began his most recent run with the Las Vegas-based promotion last month as an injury replacement for Rich Franklin at UFC 148. “The Predator” was defeated by Cung Le in their encounter, as the san shou practitioner took a unanimous decision from Cote and snapped the Canadian’s four-fight win streak.

Sakara, meanwhile, has not earned a win in more than two years. The 30-year-old Italian has competed only twice since his March 2010 victory over James Irvin, dropping a unanimous decision to Chris Weidman last year before suffering a knockout courtesy of Brian Stann this past April at UFC on Fuel TV 2. A 13-time UFC veteran, “Legionarius” owns nine of his 15 career wins via form of knockout.