TUF Nations blog with Chad Laprise, episode 4 recap: ‘I honestly thought Nordine would walk right through him’

Team Canada’s Chad Laprise joins us in our weekly Thursday morning Q&A, where he’ll break down all the action that took place inside the TUF house, both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes.

If you have any questions you’d like to ask Chad please let us know in the comments below and he’ll answer you next week. Rec’d comments will get first priority. Now with that said, let’s get things started.

Star-divide

David St. Martin: So we pick right back up immediately after your fight. Chris Indich is all busted up and kind of takes issue with Nordine Taleb. Is that just a running theme this year? Trying to seem tough in defeat?

Chad Laprise: Yea I had no idea that conversation even happened. I guess Chris heard somebody saying that he couldn’t take a punch. He was just validating himself. I think it was just frustration from them, letting us know we weren’t going to get away easy. That these guys weren’t backing down and were here to fight.

St. Martin: It was nice to see you and Chris making peace over some cheesecake. Is there just less stress in the house as the fights start rolling?

Laprise: For sure, the tension definitely lessened. For Chris and I, I honestly never really spoke to the guy much. Now that the pressure of fighting is over we just move on. He’s a really nice guy and it was good to just enjoy some cheesecake.

St. Martin: We don’t get much footage of guys who have just lost, but we know they’re curled up just miserable somewhere, beat to hell. I can’t imagine a less-fun environment to go back to right after getting your ass kicked.

Laprise: Yea, it’s terrible. It’s a super weird environment. That morning we were eating breakfast two feet from each other, then went and fought, then had dinner together. Usually, of course, you only see your opponent at weigh-ins and then the fight. I’m just really glad they showed us hanging out afterwards.

St. Martin: Now to the fight. Team Canada’s Nordine Taleb vs. Team Australia’s Tyler Manawaroa. This seemed like the first one with some actual heat leading into it.

Laprise: Nordine’s a really cool guy, but he’s pretty intense. He takes martial arts very seriously. Tyler is pretty much the opposite. He’s only 19, 10-0. I guess he’s one of the big prospects in Australia. He had a huge chip on his shoulder and wasn’t going to let Nordine bully him around. He just really got under Nordine’s skin. They both wanted to fight each other.

I figured Tyler’s wins were probably racked up against lesser opponents. Nordine is a training partner of mine and he’s a killer. That guy is legit, especially in the standup. I honestly thought Nordine would walk right through him. I thought it was one of the most secure wins for us. I never thought in a million years that Nordine would lose that fight.

St. Martin: In hindsight we know Nordine badly injured his foot early on, but he looked a little thrown off by Tyler’s style. Having such a strong kickboxing background, did the rope a dope throw him off?

Laprise: Yea he and I both have strong striking backgrounds and I have a much harder time when a guy has a more awkward style. You’re just not used to it. Your setups are all different. Everything changed when Nordine hurt his foot because he really uses his kicks. I had no clue he had hurt it, but I knew something was off. He just didn’t look his normal self. His foot was like a marshmallow after that fight. He told me afterwards he had real problems with his movement. He just couldn’t plant on that foot.

St. Martin: Given everything, I was still surprised he didn’t take the decision.

Laprise: Man, given the fact I’m his teammate, I still believe the fight should have gone to him. It was close. You could have flipped a coin. I was heartbroken for Nordine but it was close.

St. Martin: We’ve got a living arrangements question from the mailbag. I know about the infamous Tristar dorms, which I assume you’ve spent some time in.

Laprise: Oh yea, I’ve spent lots of time in there.

St. Martin: So given that experience, was it easier for you to handle the house than others?

Laprise: 100%, it was a huge advantage for me. My first few stays in the dorms were tough. I have a beautiful wife here at home and I’m very used to having my own space. Living with 15-20 other guys up at the dorms really got to me. Like anything, you get used it it, so going into the show with that comfort was a huge advantage.

Do you have a question for Chad Laprise? Ask it in the comments below and he’ll answer you next week. The Ultimate Fighter: Nations airs every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Portions of this interview have been edited for concision.

Team Canada’s Chad Laprise joins us in our weekly Thursday morning Q&A, where he’ll break down all the action that took place inside the TUF house, both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes.

If you have any questions you’d like to ask Chad please let us know in the comments below and he’ll answer you next week. Rec’d comments will get first priority. Now with that said, let’s get things started.

Star-divide

David St. Martin: So we pick right back up immediately after your fight. Chris Indich is all busted up and kind of takes issue with Nordine Taleb. Is that just a running theme this year? Trying to seem tough in defeat?

Chad Laprise: Yea I had no idea that conversation even happened. I guess Chris heard somebody saying that he couldn’t take a punch. He was just validating himself. I think it was just frustration from them, letting us know we weren’t going to get away easy. That these guys weren’t backing down and were here to fight.

St. Martin: It was nice to see you and Chris making peace over some cheesecake. Is there just less stress in the house as the fights start rolling?

Laprise: For sure, the tension definitely lessened. For Chris and I, I honestly never really spoke to the guy much. Now that the pressure of fighting is over we just move on. He’s a really nice guy and it was good to just enjoy some cheesecake.

St. Martin: We don’t get much footage of guys who have just lost, but we know they’re curled up just miserable somewhere, beat to hell. I can’t imagine a less-fun environment to go back to right after getting your ass kicked.

Laprise: Yea, it’s terrible. It’s a super weird environment. That morning we were eating breakfast two feet from each other, then went and fought, then had dinner together. Usually, of course, you only see your opponent at weigh-ins and then the fight. I’m just really glad they showed us hanging out afterwards.

St. Martin: Now to the fight. Team Canada’s Nordine Taleb vs. Team Australia’s Tyler Manawaroa. This seemed like the first one with some actual heat leading into it.

Laprise: Nordine’s a really cool guy, but he’s pretty intense. He takes martial arts very seriously. Tyler is pretty much the opposite. He’s only 19, 10-0. I guess he’s one of the big prospects in Australia. He had a huge chip on his shoulder and wasn’t going to let Nordine bully him around. He just really got under Nordine’s skin. They both wanted to fight each other.

I figured Tyler’s wins were probably racked up against lesser opponents. Nordine is a training partner of mine and he’s a killer. That guy is legit, especially in the standup. I honestly thought Nordine would walk right through him. I thought it was one of the most secure wins for us. I never thought in a million years that Nordine would lose that fight.

St. Martin: In hindsight we know Nordine badly injured his foot early on, but he looked a little thrown off by Tyler’s style. Having such a strong kickboxing background, did the rope a dope throw him off?

Laprise: Yea he and I both have strong striking backgrounds and I have a much harder time when a guy has a more awkward style. You’re just not used to it. Your setups are all different. Everything changed when Nordine hurt his foot because he really uses his kicks. I had no clue he had hurt it, but I knew something was off. He just didn’t look his normal self. His foot was like a marshmallow after that fight. He told me afterwards he had real problems with his movement. He just couldn’t plant on that foot.

St. Martin: Given everything, I was still surprised he didn’t take the decision.

Laprise: Man, given the fact I’m his teammate, I still believe the fight should have gone to him. It was close. You could have flipped a coin. I was heartbroken for Nordine but it was close.

St. Martin: We’ve got a living arrangements question from the mailbag. I know about the infamous Tristar dorms, which I assume you’ve spent some time in.

Laprise: Oh yea, I’ve spent lots of time in there.

St. Martin: So given that experience, was it easier for you to handle the house than others?

Laprise: 100%, it was a huge advantage for me. My first few stays in the dorms were tough. I have a beautiful wife here at home and I’m very used to having my own space. Living with 15-20 other guys up at the dorms really got to me. Like anything, you get used it it, so going into the show with that comfort was a huge advantage.

Do you have a question for Chad Laprise? Ask it in the comments below and he’ll answer you next week. The Ultimate Fighter: Nations airs every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Portions of this interview have been edited for concision.