LAS VEGAS - Patrick Cote was released from the UFC after three consecutive losses from 2008 to 2010. But he never left the octagon, at least mentally.
"It wasn't like they fired me because they didn't like me or something," Cote said in advance of his bout with Cung Le at UFC 148. "They fired me because they had a business to run and I lost three in a row. That's all.
"But I had to prove it - my place in the UFC - and that's what I did in my last four fights."