Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Canadian Fighters

8. Patrick Cote

Longtime, three-division UFC veteran Cote cracks this list at No. 8. The “Predator” was a heavy-handed striker who possessed enough jiu-jitsu and defensive wrestling to make it difficult for opponents to beat him through grappling. Cote started fighting in TKO and quickly ran his record to 5-0, including knockouts in 68 and 21 seconds of future UFC veterans Bill Mahood and Steve Vigneaul. Cote's own debut in the UFC was a doozy, going up to light heavyweight—his only fight there—to face one of the biggest stars in the promotion, Tito Ortiz, in the main event of UFC 50. Unsurprisingly, Cote lost, though he survived to hear the final bell and even hurt Ortiz in the opening round. Things didn't get easier for Cote at middleweight, as he was submitted by Joe Doerksen and then dropped a split decision to Chris Leben. After leaving the UFC to score submission victories over the Mahood and Jason MacDonald, Cote was invited back to take part in “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 4, which was the first iteration of the show to include UFC veterans. Cote won exhibition decisions against Edwin Dewees and Jorge Rivera, but lost in the finals to Travis Lutter by armbar. Undeterred, Cote won a decision over fellow striker Scott Smith, then knocked out three opponents in a row in the first round: Jason Day, Kendall Grove and Drew McFedries. When Cote was scheduled to face BJJ ace Ricardo Almeida, he was the underdog, as most remembered his past losses against grapplers. However, Cote showed his ground game had improved considerably, taking a split decision to earn a title shot against middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva. Cote was soundly beaten, retiring early in the third round due to injury. Cote then extended his losing streak, being submitted by Alan Belcher and then outwrestled by Tom Lawlor over three rounds.

Many thought this was the last they would hear of Cote, but he embarked on an impressive stretch where he went 10-2, including 6-2 in the UFC. He dropped decisions to elite strikers in Cung Le and Stephen Thompson, but beat everyone else, including knockouts of Josh Burkman and Ben Saunders, and decisions over Bobby Voelker, Kyle Noke and Joe Riggs. Alas, Cote was 36 at that point and past his prime. After a knockout loss to Donald Cerrone and a decision setback against another former title challenger in Thiago Alves, he wisely called it a career, with a mark of 10-11 in the UFC.

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