(The beginning of the end for the Predator…)

From #1 contender to castoff in three fights — such is the fate of Patrick Cote, who confirmed today that he has been cut by the UFC following his decision loss to Tom Lawlor at UFC 121. As Cote wrote, "I had a little hope but finally got the release word from the UFC. Its been a awesome experience! Ill be back!!"

The TUF 4 middleweight finalist lost his first four official matches in the Octagon (including his TUF 4 finale fight against Travis Lutter), but then went on a monster run in 2007-2008 that saw him score five consecutive victories over Scott Smith, Jason Day, Kendall Grove, Drew McFedries, and Ricardo Almeida.


Unfortunately, Cote’s luck ran out in his subsequent title fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 90, when his knee blew out in the third round — a shame, since he was well on his way to victory. After a year-and-a-half layoff, Cote returned to action at UFC 113, where he was choked out by Alan Belcher. The loss to Lawlor made it three in a row, a very unlucky number when it comes to employment in the UFC.

As it happens, fighting Anderson Silva has become a bit of a curse. Of Silva’s last seven opponents, four have since been released by the organization (Dan Henderson, Thales Leites, James Irvin, Patrick Cote) and another has tested positive for steroids.

We’ll let you know when Tito Ortiz and Gilbert Yvel get their walking papers…