Cote's changed his game up a lot over the past few years. He 's went from being a let's bang bro guy on the feet to a much more conservative and thoughtful fighter who has gotten a lot better with his wrasslin and has chosen to use that moreso than relying on his chin and power to get him through fights like he did in the past. Burkman basically forced him into a firefight and we saw that Cote's switch in style definitely wasn't b/c his chin is gone or he doesn't believe in his standup anymore. I have won a ton of money on josh in the past, especially during his wsof run where he was criminally underrated in a few fights and overrated in another, but he got fucking destroyed by that Quebec power.
He showed he still had a lot left in both of those areas, he changed his game up to prolong his career imo and it almost seems more natural for him to grapple nowadays rather than stand and throwdown on the feet. He grappled with Voelker, Noke, Riggs, etc. I don't think he's going to chose to stand ith Cerrone unless Cerrone just goes out there and tries to take his head of like Burkman did.
Cowboy much more of a measured striker than Burkman is I thnk Cerrone will come to make this a kickboxing fight like always and Cote will come to grapple. That's my take at least, so the big ? to me is if Cote can get this down how will he do with Cerrone's guard and if he can't get this down how will he fare standing? Not sure on either account. I think this will be a tougher fight on the feet than maybe some other people think and maybe even Cerrone himself. Just b/c Cote doesn't prefer to throw hands and trade on the feet anymore doesn't mean he's not able to still be able to do some serious damage. Also needs to be noted that Cote easily the naturally bigger and stronger, more powerful man in this fight.
However, like I mentioned, Cowboy is a much more technical, measured, and better overall striker than Burkman is. I think if Cote has his way he gets td's and stifles Cerrone from on top. Cowboy is a really good grappler with a really good guard, though, and I think he can make it tough for Cote to just be able to grind him out from on top. Remember, Evan Dunham, bb in bjj, only been subbed once in his entire career, Cowboy caught him with a triangle from guard.
I don't think this will be easy for either guy even if they get their way. however there's something to say about Cowboy losing only 3 times in his last 12 fights. That's fucking impressive, especially considering his level of comp is always very decent and he tends to take a lot of his fights on short notice. Also as, EZ mentioned, he seems like his achilles heel is taking hard shots to the body and Cote is more of a boxer who likes to headhunt than go to the body much. Of those 3 losses, two of them came by way of kicks to the body by Pettis and RDA in their rematch, respectively. The other loss was RDA in the first fight and we've all come to see how much of a beast RDA is, Pettis is a former champ and sick stand up fighter in his own right.
All in all, although i think this is a very intriguing fight that could end up being competitive, I think if either guy comes out with a clear win it's gonna be Cowboy. Hard to go against him, he's so well rounded and he only loses to the cream of the crop. Check this out, before his last lost to RDA he rattled off 8 consecutive wins over the likes of Dunham, Martins, Barboza, Miller, Jury, Eddie Alvarez, Miles Jury, Benson, and Makdessi. Holy fucking shit, that's impressive as hell, not to mention since his loss he made Brazilian Cowboy look like an amateur. At -170 I have to stick with cowboy to find a way to get it done. Cote's gonna be tough but I think Cerrone takes this one by sub or Dec.
Anyway I get arguments for both sides, Cote's got a granite chin a lot of power and his wrassling has improved a ton in recent years. I just think Cerrone is gonna be too much for him here. Just my opinion but Cerrone just doesn't seem to lose to people who aren't at the highest level. Cote is still a very good fighter but I don't think he's at the level to beat Cerrone at this point in their careers. /rant
