Cerrone dominates to hand Cote 1st KO loss

Donald Cerrone has been a Zuffa staple with a record 31 combined WEC/UFC appearances.

No. 32 on Saturday may have been the best one yet.

In the UFC Fight Night 89 co-main event in Ottawa, Ontario featuring two of MMA's most respected veterans, Cerrone made Patrick Cote look like an amateur as he knocked him down several times over the course of their fight before finishing him in Round 3.

It was the first time in Cote's 13-plus-year MMA career that he had been finished by strikes.

In his second-ever fight at welterweight, Cerrone looked like a world-beater. He took Cote down twice in Round 1 to show that he could make the fight go where he wanted, then put on a striking clinic for the remainder of the bout.

Cerrone used his Muay Thai skills to shred Cote's legs and his slick boxing to bloody Cote's nose with a punch right down the middle. He floored the iron-chinned Cote in Round 2, then did the same in Round 3 before putting him away with ground-and-pound.

It was only the second loss for Cote since he dropped down to 170 pounds in March 2013.

Cerrone's performance once again raised questions about his own weight class plans. Asked whether he planned to stay at welterweight or return to 155 pounds, Cerrone was short with his response.

(Warning: clip contains NSFW language)