By Kelsey Mowatt

Former middleweight contender Patrick Cote hasn’t been invited back yet to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but in the Quebec fighter’s mind, it isn’t for a lack of trying. This past weekend, Cote scored his third win in row since he exited from the UFC last October, by stopping the veteran Crafton Wallace at Instinct MMA’s inaugural event. While Cote’s 16^th pro win didn’t come via a highlight reel knockout or memorable submission, the 31 year-old-fighter is hoping it was enough of a statement to entrench his Octagon return.

“I was dominating him completely,” said Cote while discussing the October 7^th fight, which came to an end shortly into round one after Wallace reportedly injured his knee while being slammed by the Canadian. “I’ve never felt so fast; the last time I felt like that was when I fought Kendall Grove…I was all over him throughout the fight. It’s bad to win like that, but if you watch the fight, you’re able to see that I was dominating the fight.”

“I went and lifted him very, very high, and when I tried to slam him he tried to defend with his leg,” Cote added. “The slam was too violent and I think his knee popped out…I was in half guard and he was screaming, he was hurt.”

Although Cote has won three fights in a row in 2011, two of the victories came via unanimous decision over Kalib Starnes and more recently in June, Todd Brown. This past summer, Cote conceded to FCF that he didn’t feel as though the decision wins were enough to facilitate his UFC return.

“I did what I had to do, three in a row,” said Cote, while further discussing his desire to return to the UF C middleweight division. “They already brought someone back who had only one win outside the UFC, and he won by split decision, so we’ll see. I’m staying in shape; there are a couple of middleweight fights coming up so maybe I can jump in if someone gets injured…my manager is going to contact the UFC this week. We’ll see.”

“We’ve received offers from other organizations but the major thing for me is that I want to be back in the UFC,” Cote added. “That’s my main goal. That’s where I belong. In my head I’m still a UFC fighter; in my head I can beat more than half of the fighters there in the middleweight division. So, I hope for the call, and if they don’t call I’m going to have to put pressure on them to call.”

While the UFC hasn’t yet contacted Cote, he did reveal that fellow Zuffa property Strikeforce inquired about his availability several months ago.

“I already received an offer to fight in Strikeforce six months ago,” said Cote. “But it was too short of notice and I wasn’t able to make weight. I also wasn’t sure if I wanted to go there…I want to be with the UFC the most. I have a good relationship with them and Dana White. They made a business decision and it wasn’t anything personal.”

The October 7^th Instinct MMA card marked the return of former TKO promoter Stephane Patry, who also managed Cote for some time.

“Patry as a promoter he is one of the best,” Cote said, who signed a one fight deal with Instict MMA this past summer. “He puts on a good show; everything was good, the production was good, and I enjoyed it.”

“I’m taking it one fight at a time,” Coted added, when asked if he would be interested in fighting for Instinct MMA again, which is currently based out of Quebec. “I don’t want to get caught in an organization for too long unless it’s the UFC.”

Photo credit: BTT Canada