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'TUF Nations' finalist Chad Laprise plans immediate drop to lightweight

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QUEBEC CITY – Like many UFC hopefuls who compete on “The Ultimate Fighter,” Canadian standout Chad Laprise is not competing in his natural weight class.

Laprise (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) usually fights at lightweight, where he plans to return after facing Olivier Aubin-Mercier (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in the finals of “The Ultimate in Fighter: Nations.”

“This will be my last fight at 170,” he told MMAjunkie Radio. “If somebody offers me a fight at welterweight, and it’s not a monster that’s over 200 pounds, I would definitely take it.

“Right now, I’m fighting Olivier, and he’s also a lightweight. I’m actually bigger than him in this fight.”

With that said, Laprise is under no illusions of where he’s best suited. He competed as a welterweight with one goal in mind: to win the reality show.

“My goal was 100 percent win,” he said. “I have to win this fight. This is the end-all, be-all. After that, I don’t want to be one of those guys who just hangs around. I definitely want to be at the top, and get in title contention eventually.”

Of course, there were benefits to carrying a few extra pounds around. The pressure of being filmed 24 hours a day with no exposure to the outside world was intense for Laprise, as it is for most who make it onto the show. Not having to diet was one less stress for the 27-year-old fighter, who works out of Adrenaline Training Center in London, Ontario.

“I spent a lot of time reading and sleeping and eating,” he said. “I don’t think I coud have done it at lightweight. I spent a lot of time in between fights getting fat.”

But after the show concludes with TUF Nations Finale at Colisee Pepsi in Quebec City, Laprise will be counting his calories.

Laprise outpointed Chris Indich in the show’s elimination round and went on to knock out his show teammate Kajan Johnson in the show’s semifinals. When he meets fellow Canadian Aubin-Mercier, he notes it will be an all-Canadian final after the show pitted fighters from the Great White North against Australians.

“It was a full sweep for us,” Laprise said. “Things couldn’t have went better. Our talent pool was definitely much bigger than what they had in Australia. I knew that going in, but I knew those Aussies would be tough and they’d all be gritty.”

Fighting, though, was the easy part of being on “TUF.” The other parts are what make him want to never repeat the experience.

“I’m really happy that I had the opportunity, but I would not want to do it again,” he said. “I knew going in there that it would be one of the hardest things I ever did, and people who’d been on the show before told me what I was getting myself into. It was definitely mentally tough, but I’m glad it worked out.”

For more on TUF Nations Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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