Making an appearance on UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s podcast, famed MMA trainer John Hackleman spoke at length on his prized former pupil, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell. Rather than wax poetic on many of Liddell’s numerous accolades, Hackleman goes into gritty detail as troubles began to mount for the former champion in the twilight of his career. After years of watching Liddell succeed with his ‘stand and bang’ style, Hackleman says he pleaded with him to adjust, to no avail.
“Towards the end of his career I begged him not to so much and he still wouldn’t,” says Hackleman. “He would not stop bangin’. He banged ’till the end. He couldn’t help it. We would spend hours and hours and hours [on it]. We put the little thing down between his chin and his shoulders to keep his chin down. To keep his hands up, I’d put weights in his hands, stuff under his arms. Hours and hours and he would drill it, drill it, drill it. The second he hit someone and just saw that little spark in the eye, that killer instinct would take over and he’d drop his hands to his hips, put his chin up in the air and just start swinging for the knockout. He’d forget everything.
“When his chin wasn’t quite what it was? He didn’t want to change his style. We didn’t want to turn into a more cerebral game. He wanted to go out a banger and he did.”
Although the narrative states UFC president Dana White ultimately forced Liddell into retirement, Hackleman says White was less involved in the final decision than he would have you believe.
“Chuck, towards the end of his career, we decided when he was going to retire. There was a little controversy on that with the Dana White thing. All of us, including Dana, had a couple interactions. He loves Chuck like I do. He always wanted the best for Chuck, like I did. We were coming from different angles. I was the trainer and he was the promoter, but we both loved Chuck and wanted the best for him.
[Dana] was looking out for [Chuck’s] best [interest]. What people don’t realize, including Dana, was that I wanted Chuck to retire from before he even started. I didn’t want him to fight at all. Now he’s fighting. He loves fighting and it’s his passion. [Chuck’s] gonna say when he’s gonna quit. I saw him get hurt really bad with Rich Franklin. Right then it was done. Right then I said, “That’s it. That’s the last one. No more.” And [Chuck] didn’t disagree. Emotions ran high after the fight so we decided right that night. We said, “Let’s meet in such and such weeks. We’re going to go hike ‘Madonna’ (which is our mountain up there) and we’ll talk about it and decide then.’ We walked up Madonna and said, ‘You know what? No more. That’s it.’ And we decided then and he came back down and announced it.”
Weary of Liddell’s fighting from the start, Hackleman says he felt conflicted over continuing the career, ultimately leaving the decision to his fighter.
“I was always pushing for him to retire, but as a coach, to keep putting that in his ear? Oh yea, I’m a great trainer. I’m telling you to retire and then saying ‘hit harder!’ It’s kind of going both ways. I kind of just let him, as a grown man, decide. Like I said, Dana’s input was important and well taken. I just didn’t want that always shoved in Chuck’s face because I was trying to build him up more.”
Trying out for TUF.One man recounts his bizarre journey auditioning for the show’s second season, including being trapped in a small room for over an hour with Melvin Guillard as Jason Von Flue musters the courage to urinate in front of strangers.
TWM Interview: Ken Shamrock: “Listen as Ken shoots on Dana White “embarrassing” the world of UFC and how his current goal is to pursue one last WWE run.”
Since debuting in September 2011, ONE FC has pushed hard to cement its reputation and position as Asia’s largest MMA organization. Much has been said and written about the promotion’s plans for MMA in the region – the intended benefits of the ONE FC Network of exclusive gyms, fighters and smaller promotions, the massive broadcasting reach covering a huge potential viewership and, most importantly, a sharp increase in world-class MMA events.
However, despite these lofty ambitions, the results thus far cannot be said to have lived up to expectations. This is not to say that ONE FC is a company peddling in hollow rhetoric and overstated hyperbole. Undeniably, by aiming high the promotion has been able to make some significant positive progress over these past two years. A look at the figures for the thirteen events they have under their belt confirms an increase in live attendance each time they return to a city or country, and their roster is being fleshed out and given more credibility with the recent signing of Ben Askren, and marquee attraction Shinya Aoki turning down a UFC contract in favor of remaining on board. They also held four events in the last four months of 2013.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Making an appearance on UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s podcast, famed MMA trainer John Hackleman spoke at length on his prized former pupil, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell. Rather than wax poetic on many of Liddell’s numerous accolades, Hackleman goes into gritty detail as troubles began to mount for the former champion in the twilight of his career. After years of watching Liddell succeed with his ‘stand and bang’ style, Hackleman says he pleaded with him to adjust, to no avail.
“Towards the end of his career I begged him not to so much and he still wouldn’t,” says Hackleman. “He would not stop bangin’. He banged ’till the end. He couldn’t help it. We would spend hours and hours and hours [on it]. We put the little thing down between his chin and his shoulders to keep his chin down. To keep his hands up, I’d put weights in his hands, stuff under his arms. Hours and hours and he would drill it, drill it, drill it. The second he hit someone and just saw that little spark in the eye, that killer instinct would take over and he’d drop his hands to his hips, put his chin up in the air and just start swinging for the knockout. He’d forget everything.
“When his chin wasn’t quite what it was? He didn’t want to change his style. We didn’t want to turn into a more cerebral game. He wanted to go out a banger and he did.”
Although the narrative states UFC president Dana White ultimately forced Liddell into retirement, Hackleman says White was less involved in the final decision than he would have you believe.
“Chuck, towards the end of his career, we decided when he was going to retire. There was a little controversy on that with the Dana White thing. All of us, including Dana, had a couple interactions. He loves Chuck like I do. He always wanted the best for Chuck, like I did. We were coming from different angles. I was the trainer and he was the promoter, but we both loved Chuck and wanted the best for him.
[Dana] was looking out for [Chuck’s] best [interest]. What people don’t realize, including Dana, was that I wanted Chuck to retire from before he even started. I didn’t want him to fight at all. Now he’s fighting. He loves fighting and it’s his passion. [Chuck’s] gonna say when he’s gonna quit. I saw him get hurt really bad with Rich Franklin. Right then it was done. Right then I said, “That’s it. That’s the last one. No more.” And [Chuck] didn’t disagree. Emotions ran high after the fight so we decided right that night. We said, “Let’s meet in such and such weeks. We’re going to go hike ‘Madonna’ (which is our mountain up there) and we’ll talk about it and decide then.’ We walked up Madonna and said, ‘You know what? No more. That’s it.’ And we decided then and he came back down and announced it.”
Weary of Liddell’s fighting from the start, Hackleman says he felt conflicted over continuing the career, ultimately leaving the decision to his fighter.
“I was always pushing for him to retire, but as a coach, to keep putting that in his ear? Oh yea, I’m a great trainer. I’m telling you to retire and then saying ‘hit harder!’ It’s kind of going both ways. I kind of just let him, as a grown man, decide. Like I said, Dana’s input was important and well taken. I just didn’t want that always shoved in Chuck’s face because I was trying to build him up more.”
Trying out for TUF.One man recounts his bizarre journey auditioning for the show’s second season, including being trapped in a small room for over an hour with Melvin Guillard as Jason Von Flue musters the courage to urinate in front of strangers.
TWM Interview: Ken Shamrock: “Listen as Ken shoots on Dana White “embarrassing” the world of UFC and how his current goal is to pursue one last WWE run.”
Since debuting in September 2011, ONE FC has pushed hard to cement its reputation and position as Asia’s largest MMA organization. Much has been said and written about the promotion’s plans for MMA in the region – the intended benefits of the ONE FC Network of exclusive gyms, fighters and smaller promotions, the massive broadcasting reach covering a huge potential viewership and, most importantly, a sharp increase in world-class MMA events.
However, despite these lofty ambitions, the results thus far cannot be said to have lived up to expectations. This is not to say that ONE FC is a company peddling in hollow rhetoric and overstated hyperbole. Undeniably, by aiming high the promotion has been able to make some significant positive progress over these past two years. A look at the figures for the thirteen events they have under their belt confirms an increase in live attendance each time they return to a city or country, and their roster is being fleshed out and given more credibility with the recent signing of Ben Askren, and marquee attraction Shinya Aoki turning down a UFC contract in favor of remaining on board. They also held four events in the last four months of 2013.
Sidelined UFC welterweightDan Hardy wasn’t overly impressed with recent events surrounding the quasi-retirement of now former champion Georges St-Pierre. Shortly after retaining his title in a controversial decision over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, St-Pierre announced an open-ended hiatus from the sport to relax and refocus.
“I think it left the whole division and the whole situation kind of awkward,” says Hardy. “A lot of people weren’t happy with the decision [over Johny Hendricks]. A lot of people don’t feel GSP’s in a situation right now where he can just step away from the sport because there are a lot of questions left unanswered.
“The only thing I’m uncomfortable with is the way it was finished, the way it came to an end. I watched the press conference and, for me, the best thing to do would have been for Georges to walk out, hand Johny Hendricks the belt and say, ‘I’m done for a while, when I want the belt back I’ll come and get it.’ Just left it at that.”
Hardy, who says he believes St-Pierre lost the fight with Hendricks, does admit that the challenger could have done more to win it.
“[Hendricks] said after the fight that he was only throwing with 70% of his power. I understand it, it was a smart, tactical thing to do, but once you pass the first two or three rounds, and he’s still there, you’ve got to go get the belt. You’ve got to go take it.
“I think [St-Pierre] lost the fight. I think he retained his belt, but I think he lost the fight.”
Given the assumed pressures of being the UFC’s biggest poster boy, it’s hard for Hardy to blame St-Pierre for needing the break.
“If he’s taking time to step away from the sport, he needs it. There’s a reason for it. We don’t really want to see Georges St-Pierre compete at anything other than 100%. He’s not the champion if he’s not 100%. We need to see him at his best. If there’s something outside the sport that’s affecting him we’re not going to see his best in the sport. If he says it’s time to step away then he should.
“I just feel like it would have been the right thing to do for the sport, for his brand, to [say], ‘There you go. I don’t feel like I earned the belt tonight. I’ll come back and get it when I do.’ Then if he does come out of retirement and get the belt, imagine how people would view him. Best champion of all time.”
Hendricks will now face Robbie Lawler on Mar. 15, 2014 at UFC 171 for the vacant welterweight title.
Saving boxing?Dana White says he’s not giving up on the sweet science. “I don’t want to see the sport of boxing die. This is my contribution to the sport I love. I think I can make something out of it.”
Roids from A to Z. A great breakdown of which performance enhancing drugs do what and who exactly is taking them.
It’s Tuesday, so make sure to check out The MMA Hour with Kevin Iole , Chris Leben, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Cole Miller, Travis Browne, Urijah Faber, Glenn Robinson, the CEO of Authentic Sports Management AKA The Blackzilians, Rener Gracie and former WWE Diva Eve Torres.
So, it’s been a bit of an ugly week for our MMA overlords. GSP is pissed, Dana is pissed and we fans are tripping over each other in our rush to condemn one side or the other. Situation normal! So what is really going on here? Who is at fault, and how can the UFC better get the monkey off their back? I find myself in a very conflicted place on the whole thing, and yet it still seems to me this can all easily go away…
I completely agree with the side arguing that Dana’s scorn for GSP’s perceived attempts to up the drug testing game looks bad, and is doing them no favors, and that how they’ve treated GSP publicly is even worse. Nothing is going to fully repair Dana’s treatment of the champ in the UFC 167 aftermath, but I still believe that most of GSP’s ire and recent criticism could be sent flowing beneath the bridge of memory if Dana and Lorenzo took a better tack on the issue. The thing is, it isn’t that hard for them to make a decent case to Georges as to WHY using VADA or other testing isn’t a great idea or at least not an easy one, and it was both stupid and infuriating to be so dismissive and mocking of this before the fight, and so disparaging in the wake of his comments. Probably Georges has always been such a team player, it was very easy to dismiss him and assume that was the end of it. But, dismissing someone as crazy, or less than a man, are two of the oldest weakest canards in the argument game, and aiming those sentiments at one of the smartest, most conservative and polite team players in this manliest (and womanliest) of sports, isn’t going to convince anyone who needs convincing. Quite the opposite. And it’s the kind of thing that just drives me into a rage and makes me begrudge the UFC my money. Sure, Dana is a short-tempered, pugnacious bastard at times, it’s part of his charm too, but they’ve got to be smart enough to see that this beef could do them some damage, at least in the short term. Thing is, Dana had the salve in hand before 167, and instead of taking this all seriously and driving it home, he choose to let this fester.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Sidelined UFC welterweightDan Hardy wasn’t overly impressed with recent events surrounding the quasi-retirement of now former champion Georges St-Pierre. Shortly after retaining his title in a controversial decision over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, St-Pierre announced an open-ended hiatus from the sport to relax and refocus.
“I think it left the whole division and the whole situation kind of awkward,” says Hardy. “A lot of people weren’t happy with the decision [over Johny Hendricks]. A lot of people don’t feel GSP’s in a situation right now where he can just step away from the sport because there are a lot of questions left unanswered.
“The only thing I’m uncomfortable with is the way it was finished, the way it came to an end. I watched the press conference and, for me, the best thing to do would have been for Georges to walk out, hand Johny Hendricks the belt and say, ‘I’m done for a while, when I want the belt back I’ll come and get it.’ Just left it at that.”
Hardy, who says he believes St-Pierre lost the fight with Hendricks, does admit that the challenger could have done more to win it.
“[Hendricks] said after the fight that he was only throwing with 70% of his power. I understand it, it was a smart, tactical thing to do, but once you pass the first two or three rounds, and he’s still there, you’ve got to go get the belt. You’ve got to go take it.
“I think [St-Pierre] lost the fight. I think he retained his belt, but I think he lost the fight.”
Given the assumed pressures of being the UFC’s biggest poster boy, it’s hard for Hardy to blame St-Pierre for needing the break.
“If he’s taking time to step away from the sport, he needs it. There’s a reason for it. We don’t really want to see Georges St-Pierre compete at anything other than 100%. He’s not the champion if he’s not 100%. We need to see him at his best. If there’s something outside the sport that’s affecting him we’re not going to see his best in the sport. If he says it’s time to step away then he should.
“I just feel like it would have been the right thing to do for the sport, for his brand, to [say], ‘There you go. I don’t feel like I earned the belt tonight. I’ll come back and get it when I do.’ Then if he does come out of retirement and get the belt, imagine how people would view him. Best champion of all time.”
Hendricks will now face Robbie Lawler on Mar. 15, 2014 at UFC 171 for the vacant welterweight title.
Saving boxing?Dana White says he’s not giving up on the sweet science. “I don’t want to see the sport of boxing die. This is my contribution to the sport I love. I think I can make something out of it.”
Roids from A to Z. A great breakdown of which performance enhancing drugs do what and who exactly is taking them.
It’s Tuesday, so make sure to check out The MMA Hour with Kevin Iole , Chris Leben, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Cole Miller, Travis Browne, Urijah Faber, Glenn Robinson, the CEO of Authentic Sports Management AKA The Blackzilians, Rener Gracie and former WWE Diva Eve Torres.
So, it’s been a bit of an ugly week for our MMA overlords. GSP is pissed, Dana is pissed and we fans are tripping over each other in our rush to condemn one side or the other. Situation normal! So what is really going on here? Who is at fault, and how can the UFC better get the monkey off their back? I find myself in a very conflicted place on the whole thing, and yet it still seems to me this can all easily go away…
I completely agree with the side arguing that Dana’s scorn for GSP’s perceived attempts to up the drug testing game looks bad, and is doing them no favors, and that how they’ve treated GSP publicly is even worse. Nothing is going to fully repair Dana’s treatment of the champ in the UFC 167 aftermath, but I still believe that most of GSP’s ire and recent criticism could be sent flowing beneath the bridge of memory if Dana and Lorenzo took a better tack on the issue. The thing is, it isn’t that hard for them to make a decent case to Georges as to WHY using VADA or other testing isn’t a great idea or at least not an easy one, and it was both stupid and infuriating to be so dismissive and mocking of this before the fight, and so disparaging in the wake of his comments. Probably Georges has always been such a team player, it was very easy to dismiss him and assume that was the end of it. But, dismissing someone as crazy, or less than a man, are two of the oldest weakest canards in the argument game, and aiming those sentiments at one of the smartest, most conservative and polite team players in this manliest (and womanliest) of sports, isn’t going to convince anyone who needs convincing. Quite the opposite. And it’s the kind of thing that just drives me into a rage and makes me begrudge the UFC my money. Sure, Dana is a short-tempered, pugnacious bastard at times, it’s part of his charm too, but they’ve got to be smart enough to see that this beef could do them some damage, at least in the short term. Thing is, Dana had the salve in hand before 167, and instead of taking this all seriously and driving it home, he choose to let this fester.
Following the action at UFC Fight Night 35, we got our first glimpse as eight Canadians and eight Australians begin a new season of The Ultimate Fighter. TUF Nations: Canada vs. Australia pits Ultimate Fighter alums Patrick Côté and Kyle Noke against one another as they coach their squads of welterweights and middleweights. Each week this season we’ll be joined by Team Canada welterweight Chad Laprise. Undefeated at 7-0, the 27-year-old Ontario native splits his time training with Team Tompkins and Tristar Montreal.
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.
St. Martin: What were your initial reactions to the UFC gym?
Laprise: It was awesome! That was really the first time it really sunk in. Right when you walk through the door you’re like, ‘oh, this is real now.’ Once I got to the gym, saw everything, I knew I was probably going to be fighting in the next few days. That’s when it really hit home for me.
St. Martin: It’s kind of a different setup, not the typical UFC gym we’ve seen over the years. Were you at all disappointed not to be training in the famous Vegas gym?
Laprise: Not at all. I actually didn’t even really know much of anything. They didn’t even tell us where we were headed. They told me to be on this flight to Montreal and that’s really all I knew. When we first got there they took us right to the actual building. If anything, I thought it was nicer than the other gym.
St. Martin: So you had no idea where you’d actually be living and training for six weeks?
Laprise: I had no idea, at all. I had no idea where it was being filmed. All I knew was that it wasn’t going to be filmed in Australia, which I was thrilled about. There was no way I wanted to fly all the way over there and have to fight.
St. Martin: So there must have been quite a bit of comfort in not having to travel too far. Same time zone, same hemisphere, all that good stuff.
Laprise: For sure. I was already spending time training in Montreal at Tristar. I had a fight booked that was actually supposed to take place right when we started filming the show, so regardless I was either going to be fighting or make The Ultimate Fighter. I was in Montreal when I got the call. I went home for a week then it was just an hour flight to head back. Much better than flying half way across the world like the Australians.
St. Martin: What was your first impression of Patrick Côté? A guy who fought for the title and had been through TUF himself. Had you ever trained with him?
Laprise: Yea, I had a huge advantage with the coaches going into the show. Like Pat, he doesn’t train at Tristar but he trains in Montreal. I’ve sparred with him before and we already had a relationship. He knew who I was from training with guys like Mark Hominick at Team Tompkins back home in Ontario. Everyone grew up fighting each other. Our team was friendly with his team. I also had my head striking coach from Montreal, Kru Ash, there as well. There was really no feeling out process.
Cote sat us down the first day and was like, ‘I’ve been through this. I know exactly what you’re going through.’ Knowing that he’d been there, done that, really helped. It’s not like Brock Lesnar, who didn’t really care. Pat said we’d be homesick and missing our families. It’s normal.
St. Martin: Not even just coaches, but it seemed like Tristar and Team Tompkins were pretty well represented on the cast.
Laprise: Yea half the team was from Tristar or an affiliate gym. We had a few Tristar guys just in my weight class alone. I’m at Team Tompkins full time but I go up to Tristar for my training camps so it was great to work with guys I’ve trained with in the past. So I came in with teammates. The other guys, I knew who they were just from the local scene.
St. Martin: There was a segment where a few of the Aussie fighters sort of came downstairs to tell off the Canadians. I guess they were hearing some remarks about their pro records?
Laprise: Yea, I wasn’t in on that. I was sleeping. It played out pretty much exactly like in the show. Some of the guys were saying some stuff about them being ‘weekend warriors’ and they just came down to say, ‘hey, we’re here to fight. We’re not scared of you guys.’
St. Martin: So you got the sense that some of the Canadians were kinda big timing the Australians?
Laprise: Yea for sure. You can see in one of my interviews that I didn’t really feel that way. I said, ‘these guys are going to bring it.’ I wasn’t taking any of them lightly.
St. Martin: This episode really centered around ‘Ragin’ Kajan Johnson quite a bit for obvious reasons. I used to train with a guy named Dave Kaplan who was a top pick of Frank Mir on TUF Season 8. He was totally no nonsense in the gym, then he goes on the show and it was like watching a complete stranger. Did you get the sense that Kajan or others were trying to play it up for the cameras?
Laprise: Yea I know Dave, too. He used to train with Tompkins a bit. That’s the way Kajan is every single day. He’s a big personality. That’s Kajan, 100 percent. All the guys I knew, how they acted there was how there were back in the gym, as well. Nobody was being fake. For sure. Kajan got quite a bit of camera time, but that’s the way he is everyday.
St. Martin: You picked Kajan to beat Brendan O’Reilly by submission, which worked out for you.
Laprise: Yea I think rear naked choke. 100 percent. I knew he’d win that fight by submission.
St. Martin: I thought he might have hit that kneebar or heel hook before getting the choke.
Laprise: That kneebar was tight! I cant believe Brendan didn’t tap from that. That was super tight.
St. Martin: I sorta got the sense things weren’t going well for O’Reilly about a minute in.
Laprise: Yea, Kajan’s been a brown belt in BJJ under Bibiano Fernandes for like five years. He’s a super slick grappler. That’s one of his things. I didn’t know anything about Brendan. I just knew his record and I was pretty confident Kajan would lock up the rear naked choke. He’s got 10 or 12 [actually 11] submission finishes in his career.
St. Martin: Yea it seemed like Brendan had a pretty noticeable drop in his work rate. How much of that was jetlag?
Laprise: To have to fly across the world, make weight and fight? That’s a huge disadvantage. The first two minutes he came out hard. He’d only had five professional fights [5-0-1], right? You could tell it played with his mental game. He came out hard and gassed out. 100 percent, the jetlag was real.
St. Martin: Then there was that weird moment where he came into the Team Canada locker room after the fight.
Laprise: Yea that was super awkward. He just kinda walked in and was like, ‘we’re not scared of you guys.’ Dude, I never said you were. I think he just had a bad performance and wanted to validate himself a bit. He got in there and fought his heart out. I’m not going to complain about anything.
St. Martin: It looks like we’ve got Elias Theodurou vs. Zein Saliba next week. Is there anything you can say about it without getting us in trouble?
Laprise: They were just ready to go right off the hop at the staredown. Elias is coming in as one of our highest rated prospects. He’s undefeated, 8-0, never lost a round in a fight. He’s definitely a favorite for the middleweights on Team Canada and I think that’s why Pat picked him to fight first.
The fights are sick this season. I’m telling you man, the fights are awesome. A lot of good, talented fighters on this show. No bums. There are no Junie Browning’s.
St. Martin: I’m liking the little format changes. The less dudes lounging by the pool, the better.
Laprise: I don’t know how casual fans are going to like it, because it’s not as much house drama, but anyone who has trained even a little martial arts is going to love it.
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.
Following the action at UFC Fight Night 35, we got our first glimpse as eight Canadians and eight Australians begin a new season of The Ultimate Fighter. TUF Nations: Canada vs. Australia pits Ultimate Fighter alums Patrick Côté and Kyle Noke against one another as they coach their squads of welterweights and middleweights. Each week this season we’ll be joined by Team Canada welterweight Chad Laprise. Undefeated at 7-0, the 27-year-old Ontario native splits his time training with Team Tompkins and Tristar Montreal.
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.
St. Martin: What were your initial reactions to the UFC gym?
Laprise: It was awesome! That was really the first time it really sunk in. Right when you walk through the door you’re like, ‘oh, this is real now.’ Once I got to the gym, saw everything, I knew I was probably going to be fighting in the next few days. That’s when it really hit home for me.
St. Martin: It’s kind of a different setup, not the typical UFC gym we’ve seen over the years. Were you at all disappointed not to be training in the famous Vegas gym?
Laprise: Not at all. I actually didn’t even really know much of anything. They didn’t even tell us where we were headed. They told me to be on this flight to Montreal and that’s really all I knew. When we first got there they took us right to the actual building. If anything, I thought it was nicer than the other gym.
St. Martin: So you had no idea where you’d actually be living and training for six weeks?
Laprise: I had no idea, at all. I had no idea where it was being filmed. All I knew was that it wasn’t going to be filmed in Australia, which I was thrilled about. There was no way I wanted to fly all the way over there and have to fight.
St. Martin: So there must have been quite a bit of comfort in not having to travel too far. Same time zone, same hemisphere, all that good stuff.
Laprise: For sure. I was already spending time training in Montreal at Tristar. I had a fight booked that was actually supposed to take place right when we started filming the show, so regardless I was either going to be fighting or make The Ultimate Fighter. I was in Montreal when I got the call. I went home for a week then it was just an hour flight to head back. Much better than flying half way across the world like the Australians.
St. Martin: What was your first impression of Patrick Côté? A guy who fought for the title and had been through TUF himself. Had you ever trained with him?
Laprise: Yea, I had a huge advantage with the coaches going into the show. Like Pat, he doesn’t train at Tristar but he trains in Montreal. I’ve sparred with him before and we already had a relationship. He knew who I was from training with guys like Mark Hominick at Team Tompkins back home in Ontario. Everyone grew up fighting each other. Our team was friendly with his team. I also had my head striking coach from Montreal, Kru Ash, there as well. There was really no feeling out process.
Cote sat us down the first day and was like, ‘I’ve been through this. I know exactly what you’re going through.’ Knowing that he’d been there, done that, really helped. It’s not like Brock Lesnar, who didn’t really care. Pat said we’d be homesick and missing our families. It’s normal.
St. Martin: Not even just coaches, but it seemed like Tristar and Team Tompkins were pretty well represented on the cast.
Laprise: Yea half the team was from Tristar or an affiliate gym. We had a few Tristar guys just in my weight class alone. I’m at Team Tompkins full time but I go up to Tristar for my training camps so it was great to work with guys I’ve trained with in the past. So I came in with teammates. The other guys, I knew who they were just from the local scene.
St. Martin: There was a segment where a few of the Aussie fighters sort of came downstairs to tell off the Canadians. I guess they were hearing some remarks about their pro records?
Laprise: Yea, I wasn’t in on that. I was sleeping. It played out pretty much exactly like in the show. Some of the guys were saying some stuff about them being ‘weekend warriors’ and they just came down to say, ‘hey, we’re here to fight. We’re not scared of you guys.’
St. Martin: So you got the sense that some of the Canadians were kinda big timing the Australians?
Laprise: Yea for sure. You can see in one of my interviews that I didn’t really feel that way. I said, ‘these guys are going to bring it.’ I wasn’t taking any of them lightly.
St. Martin: This episode really centered around ‘Ragin’ Kajan Johnson quite a bit for obvious reasons. I used to train with a guy named Dave Kaplan who was a top pick of Frank Mir on TUF Season 8. He was totally no nonsense in the gym, then he goes on the show and it was like watching a complete stranger. Did you get the sense that Kajan or others were trying to play it up for the cameras?
Laprise: Yea I know Dave, too. He used to train with Tompkins a bit. That’s the way Kajan is every single day. He’s a big personality. That’s Kajan, 100 percent. All the guys I knew, how they acted there was how there were back in the gym, as well. Nobody was being fake. For sure. Kajan got quite a bit of camera time, but that’s the way he is everyday.
St. Martin: You picked Kajan to beat Brendan O’Reilly by submission, which worked out for you.
Laprise: Yea I think rear naked choke. 100 percent. I knew he’d win that fight by submission.
St. Martin: I thought he might have hit that kneebar or heel hook before getting the choke.
Laprise: That kneebar was tight! I cant believe Brendan didn’t tap from that. That was super tight.
St. Martin: I sorta got the sense things weren’t going well for O’Reilly about a minute in.
Laprise: Yea, Kajan’s been a brown belt in BJJ under Bibiano Fernandes for like five years. He’s a super slick grappler. That’s one of his things. I didn’t know anything about Brendan. I just knew his record and I was pretty confident Kajan would lock up the rear naked choke. He’s got 10 or 12 [actually 11] submission finishes in his career.
St. Martin: Yea it seemed like Brendan had a pretty noticeable drop in his work rate. How much of that was jetlag?
Laprise: To have to fly across the world, make weight and fight? That’s a huge disadvantage. The first two minutes he came out hard. He’d only had five professional fights [5-0-1], right? You could tell it played with his mental game. He came out hard and gassed out. 100 percent, the jetlag was real.
St. Martin: Then there was that weird moment where he came into the Team Canada locker room after the fight.
Laprise: Yea that was super awkward. He just kinda walked in and was like, ‘we’re not scared of you guys.’ Dude, I never said you were. I think he just had a bad performance and wanted to validate himself a bit. He got in there and fought his heart out. I’m not going to complain about anything.
St. Martin: It looks like we’ve got Elias Theodurou vs. Zein Saliba next week. Is there anything you can say about it without getting us in trouble?
Laprise: They were just ready to go right off the hop at the staredown. Elias is coming in as one of our highest rated prospects. He’s undefeated, 8-0, never lost a round in a fight. He’s definitely a favorite for the middleweights on Team Canada and I think that’s why Pat picked him to fight first.
The fights are sick this season. I’m telling you man, the fights are awesome. A lot of good, talented fighters on this show. No bums. There are no Junie Browning’s.
St. Martin: I’m liking the little format changes. The less dudes lounging by the pool, the better.
Laprise: I don’t know how casual fans are going to like it, because it’s not as much house drama, but anyone who has trained even a little martial arts is going to love it.
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.
For those fans left grasping for a sliver of hope to once again see former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar once again grace the Octagon, it’s Dana White to the rescue.
According to White, Lesnar regrets his MMA flameout and a potential return to the sport is a “definite possibility.”
“Me and Brock talk. I said recently Brock feels like … he said he has some regrets with MMA because he wasn’t healthy. He was going through those stomach problems the whole time he was here. So he has regrets.”
Rumor’s of a potential Lesnar comeback were revived earlier this month when Lance Pugmire of the LA Times claimed White was ‘talking’ to Lesnar, but would not release any further details until some sort of agreement was signed. The reports were largely discredited as being nothing more than an attempt by Lesnar to garner publicity for an upcoming appearance for a professional wrestling event.
A longtime sufferer of diverticulitis, Lesnar was plagued with health issues throughout his entire UFC career. According to White, Lesnar feels he was only competing nowhere near his true potential, hamstrung by his debilitating disease.
“It’s interesting. He became champion with diverticulitis. What would he have done without it? From the first day he fought in the UFC until his last fight he was suffering from it. He never felt right. He just didn’t know why and then it really hit him. He feels like he was fighting here at 40 percent.
“He thinks a Brock Lesnar that was 100 percent could have done much better. I told him, ‘you’re out of your f***ing mind. You came in here with one fight and became the heavyweight champion.’ It was fun having Brock here.”
Lesnar officially hung it up in 2011 following back-to-back knockout losses to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 and Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. Prior to that he had managed to string together four consecutive wins over Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Randy Couture and Heath Herring, in that order.
“So he has some regrets. Would he like to fight again? I’m sure he would. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. It’s definitely a possibility.”
When asked if he would ever be interested in sharing Lesnar with the WWE in some capacity, White’s remained coy as ever. “You never know.”
Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas covers the controversy around Georges St-Pierre’s recent comments, Bellator’s situation with Patricio Freire and more in this week’s live chat.
Was this a great card? No, but it was a very good card. There were a some submissions, a couple of TKO’s, a controversial decision, a few impressive debuts, and of course, violence. Always boils down to violence. Hell yeah!
The main event established that Luke Rockhold isn’t a pretender (but Costas Philippou is) and it isn’t crazy to mention him in the same breath as Michael Bisping or Lyoto Machida. I think a lot of people forgot that he beat Jacare to obtain the Strikeforce belt in the first place. He is for real people! He should get another shot at a Top 5 fighter next to help clear up the muddled middleweight picture. I’m sure some people are going to bitch that his victory over Philippou means nothing as most feel Philippou was exposed previously by Francis Carmont, but no one had been able to put away Philippou in his career yet and Rockhold did so with relative ease. As for Philippou… poor guy. He isn’t going to get cut by any means, but no one will mistake him for a Top 10 fighter again now that he has officially been exposed… similar to what he did to Tim Boetsch.
Other quick notes: Brad Tavares graduated from prospect to fringe contender. TJ Dillashaw stamped his legitimacy. Yoel Romero won by TKO (can he win any other way?). And judging is going to once again be ridiculed after the John Moraga-Dustin Ortiz verdict.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
For those fans left grasping for a sliver of hope to once again see former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar once again grace the Octagon, it’s Dana White to the rescue.
According to White, Lesnar regrets his MMA flameout and a potential return to the sport is a “definite possibility.”
“Me and Brock talk. I said recently Brock feels like … he said he has some regrets with MMA because he wasn’t healthy. He was going through those stomach problems the whole time he was here. So he has regrets.”
Rumor’s of a potential Lesnar comeback were revived earlier this month when Lance Pugmire of the LA Times claimed White was ‘talking’ to Lesnar, but would not release any further details until some sort of agreement was signed. The reports were largely discredited as being nothing more than an attempt by Lesnar to garner publicity for an upcoming appearance for a professional wrestling event.
A longtime sufferer of diverticulitis, Lesnar was plagued with health issues throughout his entire UFC career. According to White, Lesnar feels he was only competing nowhere near his true potential, hamstrung by his debilitating disease.
“It’s interesting. He became champion with diverticulitis. What would he have done without it? From the first day he fought in the UFC until his last fight he was suffering from it. He never felt right. He just didn’t know why and then it really hit him. He feels like he was fighting here at 40 percent.
“He thinks a Brock Lesnar that was 100 percent could have done much better. I told him, ‘you’re out of your f***ing mind. You came in here with one fight and became the heavyweight champion.’ It was fun having Brock here.”
Lesnar officially hung it up in 2011 following back-to-back knockout losses to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 and Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. Prior to that he had managed to string together four consecutive wins over Shane Carwin, Frank Mir, Randy Couture and Heath Herring, in that order.
“So he has some regrets. Would he like to fight again? I’m sure he would. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. It’s definitely a possibility.”
When asked if he would ever be interested in sharing Lesnar with the WWE in some capacity, White’s remained coy as ever. “You never know.”
Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas covers the controversy around Georges St-Pierre’s recent comments, Bellator’s situation with Patricio Freire and more in this week’s live chat.
Was this a great card? No, but it was a very good card. There were a some submissions, a couple of TKO’s, a controversial decision, a few impressive debuts, and of course, violence. Always boils down to violence. Hell yeah!
The main event established that Luke Rockhold isn’t a pretender (but Costas Philippou is) and it isn’t crazy to mention him in the same breath as Michael Bisping or Lyoto Machida. I think a lot of people forgot that he beat Jacare to obtain the Strikeforce belt in the first place. He is for real people! He should get another shot at a Top 5 fighter next to help clear up the muddled middleweight picture. I’m sure some people are going to bitch that his victory over Philippou means nothing as most feel Philippou was exposed previously by Francis Carmont, but no one had been able to put away Philippou in his career yet and Rockhold did so with relative ease. As for Philippou… poor guy. He isn’t going to get cut by any means, but no one will mistake him for a Top 10 fighter again now that he has officially been exposed… similar to what he did to Tim Boetsch.
Other quick notes: Brad Tavares graduated from prospect to fringe contender. TJ Dillashaw stamped his legitimacy. Yoel Romero won by TKO (can he win any other way?). And judging is going to once again be ridiculed after the John Moraga-Dustin Ortiz verdict.
“We’ve always had an open line of communication with him and I’d like to know why he feels that way,” Fertitta told Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole Tuesday afternoon.
“It was extremely disappointing to hear Georges make those comments because I don’t think any organization has embraced drug testing as we have. We have not only agreed to pay when the commission has said it wants to do enhanced testing, we’ve encouraged it. We have no problem with testing. When we serve as the commission [in areas out of the country where there is no commission], we test everyone on the card so we are thorough and there can be no claims of bias.”
St-Pierre had previously expressed concern over his perception of the sport’s apathetic status quo, but his statements have never been so bold. “That’s one of the reasons why I stopped fighting,” St-Pierre told Canadian media members Tuesday. “Not really to teach them a lesson, because that would also punish me. I wanted to do something for the sport. I love the sport. I see the direction it’s going, and I don’t think it makes any sense. This is stupid.”
“We’ve actually advocated for harsher penalties for PEDs,” Fertitta told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “Maybe Georges didn’t understand the level of drug testing Nevada was doing. They are the ultimate authority that handles drug testing, medicals and everything else — and they are very capable.”
St-Pierre renounced his title shortly after his controversial title defense to Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
“Maybe if things change one day, I’ll return.” Georges St-Pierre opens up on why exactly he felt the need to step away from the UFC.
Day 1.According to his manager,Anderson Silva has begun physical therapy near his home in Los Angeles. “It wasn’t meant for him to stop. He’s eager to come back.”
Pitbull. Even though he ‘won’ a Bellator title shot after surviving last season’s featherweight tournament, Patricio Freirehas been trumped in favor of Pat Curran vs. Daniel Straus III. “That whole ‘where the title shots are earned, not given’ is pure bulls–t now. That doesn’t exist anymore.”
UFC Fight Night 35… not sure what to think of it with my initial thoughts. While the main event of Luke Rockhold and Costa Philippou is a good match up that should produce good results it feels like it would be better suited for a co-main event. Both are coming off of loses and neither had an inspiring performance in those loses. So what is the co-main event? Lorenz Larkin and Brad Tavares whom most casual fans don’t know. This one is not a bad match either… but co-main event? It is what it is.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I have rarely walked away from a fight card (not just UFC) without something that satiated my appetite for violence and expect this one to do the same. I’m sure Rockhold and Philippou will be a fun fight as neither can be considered boring and the same can be said for Tavares and Larkin. TJ Dillashaw and Mike Easton will have some impact in the bantamweight rankings and Yoel Romero is thought to be a sleeper in the middleweight division by many. And just because the rest of the card is littered with fighters only hardcore fans are familiar with doesn’t mean they can’t put on a fun fight.
“We’ve always had an open line of communication with him and I’d like to know why he feels that way,” Fertitta told Yahoo!’s Kevin Iole Tuesday afternoon.
“It was extremely disappointing to hear Georges make those comments because I don’t think any organization has embraced drug testing as we have. We have not only agreed to pay when the commission has said it wants to do enhanced testing, we’ve encouraged it. We have no problem with testing. When we serve as the commission [in areas out of the country where there is no commission], we test everyone on the card so we are thorough and there can be no claims of bias.”
St-Pierre had previously expressed concern over his perception of the sport’s apathetic status quo, but his statements have never been so bold. “That’s one of the reasons why I stopped fighting,” St-Pierre told Canadian media members Tuesday. “Not really to teach them a lesson, because that would also punish me. I wanted to do something for the sport. I love the sport. I see the direction it’s going, and I don’t think it makes any sense. This is stupid.”
“We’ve actually advocated for harsher penalties for PEDs,” Fertitta told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “Maybe Georges didn’t understand the level of drug testing Nevada was doing. They are the ultimate authority that handles drug testing, medicals and everything else — and they are very capable.”
St-Pierre renounced his title shortly after his controversial title defense to Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
“Maybe if things change one day, I’ll return.” Georges St-Pierre opens up on why exactly he felt the need to step away from the UFC.
Day 1.According to his manager,Anderson Silva has begun physical therapy near his home in Los Angeles. “It wasn’t meant for him to stop. He’s eager to come back.”
Pitbull. Even though he ‘won’ a Bellator title shot after surviving last season’s featherweight tournament, Patricio Freirehas been trumped in favor of Pat Curran vs. Daniel Straus III. “That whole ‘where the title shots are earned, not given’ is pure bulls–t now. That doesn’t exist anymore.”
UFC Fight Night 35… not sure what to think of it with my initial thoughts. While the main event of Luke Rockhold and Costa Philippou is a good match up that should produce good results it feels like it would be better suited for a co-main event. Both are coming off of loses and neither had an inspiring performance in those loses. So what is the co-main event? Lorenz Larkin and Brad Tavares whom most casual fans don’t know. This one is not a bad match either… but co-main event? It is what it is.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I have rarely walked away from a fight card (not just UFC) without something that satiated my appetite for violence and expect this one to do the same. I’m sure Rockhold and Philippou will be a fun fight as neither can be considered boring and the same can be said for Tavares and Larkin. TJ Dillashaw and Mike Easton will have some impact in the bantamweight rankings and Yoel Romero is thought to be a sleeper in the middleweight division by many. And just because the rest of the card is littered with fighters only hardcore fans are familiar with doesn’t mean they can’t put on a fun fight.
Speaking with Sherdog, UFC president Dana White lays out his plans for the promotion’s future, with or without a few of its biggest stars. When it comes to former welterweight and middleweight champions Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, White insists moving on from two of the UFC’s biggest Pay-Per-View draws is just business as usual.
“Back in the day, everybody was going ‘what are you going to do when Chuck Liddell’s gone? What are you gonna do when this guy’s gone, that guy’s gone.’ I mean I’ve been hearing this for 15 years. What do we talk about behind the scenes? Nothing. We literally don’t talk about anything. Georges St-Pierre said he wanted to reti– … He wants to go handle his stuff and take some time off. We haven’t talked about Georges St-Pierre since. We haven’t called Georges St-Pierre. We’re letting Georges St-Pierre have his time. If Georges St-Pierre decides he wants to come back and fight, then he can come back and fight. If he doesn’t … Me and Lorenzo [Fertitta] are flying down tomorrow to [Los Angeles] to see Anderson, just to go see him, because he’s been injured. If Anderson Silva never wants to fight again, that’s up to him.”
See the video below for more on White’s plans for 2014, growth in a rough economy and global expansion.
Free agent.Dan Henderson says he and the UFC aren’t too close on hammering out a new deal. “I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say I was insulted, but I know what they’re trying to accomplish and trying to get everybody for as cheap as they can.”
Questions and problems. The crew over at Bloody Elbow has some major security concerns regarding UFC’s Fight Pass, namely, how the system stores users’ passwords and credit card information.
It’s Tuesday, so make sure to check out The MMA Hour featuring Dave Meltzer, Dan Henderson, Charlie Brenneman, Alliance Training Center head coach Eric Del Fierro, Stefan Struve and Josh Barnett.
Next Wednesday UFC Fight Night 35 will be airing on Fox Sports 1, with the main event between Luke Rockhold and Costas Philippou. Prior to that there will be 11 more fights with fighters ranging from the Top 15 of the UFC to several making their debuts under the bright lights of the UFC. This is the breakdown of the fighters and their records on the prelims.
In each record break down you will see a fighters overall record, the record of their last 5 bouts and the record they obtained fighting in the UFC or other major organization. In addition there is the winning percentage, finishing percentage and the number of (T)KO’s and submissions in their records. Their stance, height and reach are all listed as well. On the far right are the significant striking accuracy, striking defense, takedown accuracy and take down defense percentages provided by Fight Metric from their websites.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Speaking with Sherdog, UFC president Dana White lays out his plans for the promotion’s future, with or without a few of its biggest stars. When it comes to former welterweight and middleweight champions Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, White insists moving on from two of the UFC’s biggest Pay-Per-View draws is just business as usual.
“Back in the day, everybody was going ‘what are you going to do when Chuck Liddell’s gone? What are you gonna do when this guy’s gone, that guy’s gone.’ I mean I’ve been hearing this for 15 years. What do we talk about behind the scenes? Nothing. We literally don’t talk about anything. Georges St-Pierre said he wanted to reti– … He wants to go handle his stuff and take some time off. We haven’t talked about Georges St-Pierre since. We haven’t called Georges St-Pierre. We’re letting Georges St-Pierre have his time. If Georges St-Pierre decides he wants to come back and fight, then he can come back and fight. If he doesn’t … Me and Lorenzo [Fertitta] are flying down tomorrow to [Los Angeles] to see Anderson, just to go see him, because he’s been injured. If Anderson Silva never wants to fight again, that’s up to him.”
See the video below for more on White’s plans for 2014, growth in a rough economy and global expansion.
Free agent.Dan Henderson says he and the UFC aren’t too close on hammering out a new deal. “I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say I was insulted, but I know what they’re trying to accomplish and trying to get everybody for as cheap as they can.”
Questions and problems. The crew over at Bloody Elbow has some major security concerns regarding UFC’s Fight Pass, namely, how the system stores users’ passwords and credit card information.
It’s Tuesday, so make sure to check out The MMA Hour featuring Dave Meltzer, Dan Henderson, Charlie Brenneman, Alliance Training Center head coach Eric Del Fierro, Stefan Struve and Josh Barnett.
Next Wednesday UFC Fight Night 35 will be airing on Fox Sports 1, with the main event between Luke Rockhold and Costas Philippou. Prior to that there will be 11 more fights with fighters ranging from the Top 15 of the UFC to several making their debuts under the bright lights of the UFC. This is the breakdown of the fighters and their records on the prelims.
In each record break down you will see a fighters overall record, the record of their last 5 bouts and the record they obtained fighting in the UFC or other major organization. In addition there is the winning percentage, finishing percentage and the number of (T)KO’s and submissions in their records. Their stance, height and reach are all listed as well. On the far right are the significant striking accuracy, striking defense, takedown accuracy and take down defense percentages provided by Fight Metric from their websites.
