nning, including striking out the last two batters. He ended the inning when he caught Castro looking with an 85 mph curveba

After 10 years and 15 fights in the UFC, Montreal welterweight Patrick The Predator Cote says he fights for fun these days. And why not. The 34-year-old Cote has pretty much seen it all. In his UFC debut in 2004, he was moved from the undercard to the main event at the last minute — not to mention elevated a weight class — when former light-heavyweight champion Tito Otiz needed an opponent at UFC 50 (Cote lost but acquitted himself well). He made the final of Season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter, fought Anderson Silva for the middleweight title, endured both losing and winning streaks, suffered through knee surgeries, was cut by UFC and fought in three weight classes. So heading into his third fight at 170 pounds, its perhaps no surprise that Cote feels no pressure in meeting Stephen Wonderboy Thompson at UFC 178 in Las Vegas on Saturday. I feel so good right now because I have what was missing in my team before, Cote said in an interview. I have a good nutritionist, I have a sports psychologist, I feel like I have no weakness around me any more. I feel like my team is complete now and I have no worries about anything. And the thing is Im 34 years old, I have the experience now, Im more mature. Im going one fight at a time. I have built my after-career already, so Im fighting because I still enjoy it and not because I need it. Its 10 times easier, Im not nervous. Im going there to have fun but I put a lot of energy and sacrifice in my training camp to be very very ready for this fight. Cote (21-8 including 7-8 in the UFC) already has a second career in TV, serving as a sport analyst at TVA Sports and French-language colour commentator for the UFC. Cote will yield his UFC commentary position to a fill-in this weekend. Hes pretty good but Im better, Cote said with a laugh. The former middleweight last fought in April, earning a decision over Kyle Noke. Uninjured, he wanted to get back into the cage as soon as possible. But at the same time I wanted a good fight and a good name and nobody was available, he said. He also wanted to return to Las Vegas having fought the last three times in Quebec. Since defeating Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 in July 2008, Cote has fought seven times in the UFC but only once in Vegas (a loss to Cung Le at UFC 148 in July 2012) They gave me this opportunity. Its against a good guy and I think with a win, Ill be very close to cracking the top 15, Cote said. Cote doesnt mind being on the preliminary card. He says it allows him to watch the rest of the fighters. My paycheque doesnt change if Im on the main card or the prelims, he said. His place on the card does affect sponsorship interest, he conceded. But right now, to be honest with you, the sponsorship market is not very good. Cote and Thompson (9-1) trained briefly together in Montreal in 2008. We know each other pretty well, Cote said of the 31-year-old South Carolina native, a former undefeated kickboxer. We respect each other but at the end of the day theres going to be only one winner and I truly believe thats going to be me. For a lot of reasons. Stephen Thompson is very crafty on his feet, he has flashy moves and hes very accurate. But hes like that when you let him take the pace of the fight. If I try to make a technical fight with him, hes going to make me look bad. Hes not going to hurt me. I have more power than him. I have better wrestling, I have better jiu-jitsu but I have to be careful about his flashy moves and his footwork. I have to cut all the angles of the cage, not run after him and put a lot of pressure and bully him. I have to make it like a brawl. If Cote needs a reminder, he just has to think of the Le fight. Cote believes he lost to the flashy former world kickboxing champion because he ran after him as the bout progressed. Cote has expanded his training regimen in recent years. After dropping to 170 pounds to beat Bobby Voelker at UFC 158, he went back to school to learn more about nutrition. I thought I knew something nutrition but I didnt know anything. Seriously. For this fight, he spent two weeks in Thailand — his second training stint there. He also added swimming and sprinting to his routine. His body looks the better for it. It looks like my body reacted differently this time, he said. Weve been working with my nutritionist on a new meal plan, new things around my training ... Its a good result at the end. A tweet Tuesday from his last training session showed Cote showing off a six-pack. I fought most of my career at 185 (pounds) so we werent sure if I had one, joked Cote. Its good, its really there. St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys .ca has you covered for whos in, whos out and what to expect from all 30 teams. Bob Gibson Jersey . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. 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Before that, Rousey needed a total 23 minutes and 26 seconds to take care of her last eight opponents - and one of those fights lasted 10 minutes and 58 seconds.HOUSTON -- A big night by Franklin Gutierrez had Seattle manager Eric Wedge wondering what might have been. "Its hard not to imagine how much better wed be as a ballclub if we had him all year or for the last three years for that matter," Wedge said. Gutierrez hit a two-run homer after Nick Franklin gave Seattle an early lead with a solo shot and the Mariners held on for a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday night, stopping a six-game slide. Gutierrez had three of Seattles six hits in his third game back from the disabled list. He has played just 20 games this season because of hamstring issues, and missed more than 50 games in each of the previous two seasons with a variety of injuries. "Im just happy to be here," he said. "I just came to try to help my team. Ive been missing a lot of games due to injuries. It feels good to come back, see the ball better, swing and help my team today." Franklin put the Mariners on top with his one-out homer off Jordan Lyles (6-7) in the first inning. Raul Ibanez reached on a leadoff single in the fourth and Gutierrez connected with one out, hitting a drive to left to push Seattles lead to 3-0. He has seven homers in just 73 at-bats this season. "Ive been working on my strength to use a little bit more of my legs," he said. "When you use your legs you can hit the ball better and with power. So as soon as you put a good swing on the ball anything can happen." It was Seattles first win since Wedge returned to the team on Friday after missing about a month following a mild stroke. "Its been about a month and a half," Wedge said of being part of a win. "I (said) when I was walking on the field that its been about a month and a half since I shook hands on the field for multiple reasons. It felt good to get out there and shake hands." Seattle starter Erasmo Ramirez (5-1) tied a season high with seven strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings. He allowed two runs and five hits. Yoervis Medina struck out three in 1 1-3 perfect innings before Danny Farquhar threw a scoreless ninth for his 10th save. Jason Castro had an RBI double in the fourth and Brett Wallace homered in the fifth, but that was it for Houston, which has dropped three in a row. Lyles allowed four hits and three runs in six innings.dddddddddddd Ramirez sailed through the first three innings, including striking out the side in the third. L.J. Hoes got Houstons first hit with a single to start the fourth before Castros one-out double sent him home. Wallace opened Houstons fifth with a drive to right-centre that cut Seattles lead to 3-2. Ramirez shaken up a bit with two outs in that inning when he took a comebacker to his foot on a single by Robbie Grossman. He was checked out by trainers and threw a few warmup pitches before retiring Hoes to end the inning. Jose Altuve doubled with no outs in the sixth inning and Ramirez left after he issued a walk to Chris Carter. Charlie Furbush then retired Wallace to end the inning. "We had a few opportunities to get some runs there," Wallace said. "In those situations, you have to do everything you can to try to get the guys in. They made some good pitches when they had to. A couple opportunities that we left out there and those are the ones that you cant give away." Lyles retired eight of the last nine batters he faced after the homer by Gutierrez, with the only baserunner coming when Justin Smoak reached on an error by right fielder Hoes with two outs in the sixth. Medina threw a perfect eighth inning, including striking out the last two batters. He ended the inning when he caught Castro looking with an 85 mph curveball. Castro threw his bat in disgust after the call. Lyles last started on Friday, but got the last out of Houstons win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday for his first career save. Kevin Chapman followed Lyles with 2 1-3 scoreless innings. He hasnt allowed an earned run in his first 12 major league appearances, which ties a franchise record. Grossman robbed Dustin Ackley of a hit with a nifty leaping catch to end the fourth inning. The left fielder was running and jumped high in the air to snag the hard-hit fly ball. NOTES: The series continues Friday when Seattles top prospect, Taijuan Walker, makes his major league debut against Brad Peacock. The 21-year-old Walker went 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA in his last two starts in Triple-A. ... Houston manager Bo Porter said catchers Carlos Corporan and Max Stassi, both on the seven-day concussion list, are making progress. ' ' '