Popular Canadian fighter Patrick Cote (10-4 MMA, 1-4 UFC) has confirmed that he will face The Ultimate Fighter 3 middleweight winner Kendall Grove (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 74 on Aug. 25.
Cote made the fight announcement in a recent Internet forum posting. A UFCjunkie.com (www.ufcjunkie.com) source close to the UFC today confirmed the fight is "in the works."
Cote, a UFC veteran who appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 4 "Comeback" season, was a runner-up to Travis Lutter in the show's finale.
He remained winless in the UFC after the loss, but the second-place finish eventually earned him another shot in the organization. Cote made the most of it, and he will now look to build upon the success of his UFC 67 unanimous-decision win over Scott Smith.
It was Cote's first victory in five career UFC fights.
The BTT Canada fighter, who most recently defeated Jason Day (12-5 MMA) at a June 1 TKO event, won't have any easy task at hand, though.
Grove, who's riding a four-fight win streak, has emerged as one of the most-improved fighters to come out of The Ultimate Fighter reality series.
Grove defeated Ross Pointon and Kalib Starnes in exhibition bouts on the show, and he then went on to beat Ed Herman in The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale. He's since posted victories over Chris Price at "Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter" this past October and Alan Belcher at UFC 69 in April.
The 6-foot-6, 185-pound fighter has already been tabbed a future middleweight contender by many fight experts. The UFC matchmakers haven't rushed him into contention, but Grove will face one of his toughest opponents to date. Cote is a six-year professional MMA veteran who's fought some of the sport's top talent.
UFC 74 takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Aug. 25.