Cote planted his right foot and then crumpled in pain, clutching his knee 39 seconds into the third round while Silva looked on. It was a strange end to a unsatisfactory fight that seemed like more of a workout than a title defence for the champion.
Silva, 33, is widely seen as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet and has pretty much cleaned out the 185-pound division. Cote, whose UFC career started with four straight losses, got his shot by winning four in a row. Bookies rated Silva as high as a 7-1 favourite.
An emotional Cote apologized after the fight, saying his knee just popped out. An unsympathetic crowd booed.
"Patrick should not be booed," Silva said via an interpreter.
"Thanks for coming, ladies and gentlemen," he added in English. "Sorry."
Two judges awarded the first and second rounds to Silva, while the third judge gave the first round to Cote and the second to Silva.
Silva moved and circled as the fight started, with Cote trying unsuccessfully to close the distance. Silva got the Canadian's attention with some scything kicks and then a big knee later in the round that left blood tricking down Cote's forehead.
Silva just missed taking Cote's head off with a high kick early in the second. Cote lost balance and ended up on the bottom soon after and Silva cheekily offered to help him up after backing off and tapping him gently with his foot.
It was like a workout session for the champion, who at times moved like he was on the dance floor. The round ended to boos, with Silva connecting at the fence with some knees.
In the third, it ended suddenly with the 28-year-old from Montreal grimacing and clutching his knee.
Fellow Canadian Georges St Pierre, the current UFC welterweight champion, was ringside to watch his friend and training partner take on Silva.
Cote entered the arena, baseball cap askew, with his cornermen wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Predator on the back. Then a relaxed, smiling Silva came out, his manager holding the shiny championship belt.
The two touched gloves and bowed to each other before the bell rang.
It marked the first time Silva has gone past the second round in the UFC.
The card at Allstate Arena, the suburban home of the AHL champion Chicago Wolves just minutes from O'Hare International Airport, was the UFC's first in Illinois.
In the co-main event, Thiago "Pitbull" Alves cemented his status as the No. 1 contender in the welterweight ranks by pounding out a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) over Josh Koscheck. It was the seventh straight win for the powerful Alves, who has not lost since June 2006 when he was TKO'd by Jon Fitch.
Koscheck was in survival mode early in the first round when he was knocked down with a left hook and then absorbed a kick to the head when he got back up. But Koscheck wrestled his way out of danger and scored with some blows of his own later in the round.
The two gave as good as they got in the second. Alves, who intelligently combined kicks and punches all night, hurt Koscheck early and late in the third and punished him at the fence both times. The third round was halted twice to allow each fighter to recover from being poked in the eye.
Koscheck, who took the fight on short notice after Diego Sanchez was injured in training, lost but still put on a gutsy performance and Alves has the lumps on his face to prove it.
Earlier, former lightweight champion Sean "Muscle Shark" Sherk won a unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin in an all-action standup fight that could have gone either way. The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Sherk with many in the crowd booing the decision.
The two went at it like five-foot-six pit bulls in a frantic first round that saw both men land hard shots. It was more of the same in the second, which left both fighters' faces marked up.
Griffin buckled Sherk early in the third but the former champion, better known for his wrestling, kept swinging. Griffin, who at 24 had 11 years on his opponent, circled and punched while Sherk counter-attacked from the middle of the cage. The fight ended to loud cheers with both men raising their arms.
It was Sherk's first win since being stripped of the 155-pound title following a steroids suspension. He was beaten by BJ Penn in January in his comeback fight.
Heavyweight Junior dos Santos, in his UFC debut, upset 6-1 favourite Fabricio Werdum in a battle of Brazilian behemoths, knocking him out with a crushing right uppercut to the chin at 1:20 of the first round. Both men were throwing rights at the time but Dos Santos, coached by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, connected first.
Lightweight Gray Maynard maintained his unbeaten record in the UFC with a unanimous decision over Rich Clementi, a slippery veteran who came into the fight having won four straight in the UFC.
Maynard scored a big takedown in each round en route to the 30-27 unanimous decision in a fight that failed to take off.
Aurelio, 35, used to teach the 34-year-old Franca jiu-jitsu but the two no longer get on, which Franca demonstrated when he jostled Aurelio as he did a lap upon entering the cage before the fight. Aurelio had no answer for Franca's kicks, which buckled his legs leaving ugly red welts.
The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 for Franca.
Lightweight Spencer Fisher looked impressive in submitting a game but less experienced Shannon Gugerty via triangle choke at 3:56 of the third round.
Fisher opened a nasty gash over Gugerty's left eye in a first round that also see Gugerty go down, eating a right to the head as he attempted a leg kick. Gugerty took Fisher down in the third, only to get caught in a triangle that Fisher gradually improved before Gugerty tapped out.
Middleweight Thales Leites made short work of Drew McFedries, choking him out at 1:18 of the first round. in a classic striker versus grappler matchup. McFedries took the fight on two weeks notice after Goran Reljic pulled out with a back injury.
Welterweight Pete Sell rebounded from a rocky first round to earn a unanimous 29-28 decision over Josh Burkman.
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