Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

It has been a long, thankless year for DaMarques Johnson.

Having lost three consecutive fights against John Maguire, a resurgent Mike Swick and highly touted grappling phenom Gunnar Nelson, Johnson (16-12 MMA, 6-4 UFC) announced Tuesday morning, via his official Twitter page, that he was no longer a UFC fighter.

Losing three times in a row is generally enough to earn you a pink slip in the UFC, and having been finished in his last three bouts (twice by submission, once by KO), Johnson was most definitely on the chopping block.

Johnson looked uncharacteristically sluggish in his last outing, which he took on short notice, avoiding a penalty for weighing in heavy at 183 pounds.

Johnson, who enjoyed success on Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter, defeated Ray Elbe, Dean Amasinger and Nick Osipczak to progress to the final, where he was defeated by James Wilks.

An entertaining, if not a little acerbic character during his stint on the show, Johnson was unable to transfer his initial success to his UFC career.

Johnson had not scored back-to-back wins since 2009-10, and he appeared to struggle against midtier competition, having also lost to Matt Riddle, Amir Sadollah and James Wilks in his time in the UFC.

His Octagon wins came over Edgar Garcia and Brad Blackburn, in Submission of the Night and Knockout of the Night performances, and he also notched a victory over Clay Harvison.

Johnson is a technically-sound fighter, and given that he trains under former UFC fighter (and ultimate MMA journeyman), Jeremy Horn, he shouldn't struggle to get a fight on the regional circuit, should he choose to pursue that avenue.