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TUF Nations blog with Chad Laprise, episode 9 recap: Talking Hendricks vs. Lawler, life after TUF and more
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.
I don’t remember the UFC doing a clip show mid-season before so Chad and I sort of broke from the format. With no fight to discuss, we opened it up more to things going on outside the show. Hope you enjoy.
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.
David St. Martin: So last week you were down in Chicago training with Team Curran. What did you go out there?
Chad Laprise: Well, Jeff Curran’s gym has been associated with my gym, Team Tompkins, for a long time. Pat Curran is fighting Daniel Straus this weekend in Bellator so about a month ago that whole crew came over for a week to get some work in. Pat wanted to do some sparring with one of my teammates, Jesse Ronson, because he’s a southpaw. So then myself, Sam Stout and Chris Horodecki went down to Chicago.
My team is definitely well rounded, but we’re more of a striking gym and Curran’s guys are animals on the ground. Great jiu jitsu, great wrestling.
St. Martin: How’s Pat looking for this weekend?
Laprise: Pat is a killer. There’s no way I see that guy losing. He’s looking very sharp, very focused. I was training with him every single day at practice and he’s looking mean. I can’t wait to see him fight.
St. Martin: Do you see it going the distance?
Laprise: I don’t know much about Straus but I honestly think Pat will finish him.
St. Martin: Speaking of Curran’s, how was training with Felice Herrig? How badly did she beat you up?
Laprise: Haha, Felice is like a 115-pound girl, right? She was in all the team practices but we didn’t train together at all. I’m a welterweight so she was mostly just training with some smaller guys. She was pretty much the only girl there. Jeff has some other girls in the BJJ classes but I think she was the only female fighter.
St. Martin: Are you picking her to win TUF 20?
Laprise: I didn’t get to see her in action too much but she looked pretty good. I’m pretty confident that she’ll do well on the show.
St. Martin: As the show progresses and the episodes air, how is your life changing?
Laprise: I definitely get stopped and recognized more around my home town. Everywhere I go people know me from the show, but I never got into the sport to be famous. I couldn’t care less about all that kind of stuff. I’m just focused on training and winning fights.
St. Martin: It’s interesting to see so much crossover between the two teams once the show wrapped. I know Elias Theodorou is over in Thailand with Rich Walsh at Tiger Muay Thai.
Laprise: It’s cool because Pat Cote was actually going to do his camp at Tiger because Kru Ash, our head striking coach at Tristar in Montreal coaches there, as well. Pat asked me if I wanted to come along to train, which would have been a great opportunity, but I was worried about getting sick. Huge flight over, huge flight back. I think it was easier for someone like Rich because it’s closer to Australia. I think he and Elias just finished up their camp there and should be heading home in a couple days. It’s good to see guys maintaining a friendship after the show.
St. Martin: Did you end up working with Izzy Martinez while you were in Chicago?
Laprise: No but I actually got together with Izzy’s assistant David Silva, who was also on the show. He hasn’t gotten much screen time but he’s an amazing wrestler and works with the MMA fighters at Team Curran. Of course, he was working with me on my wrestling. He was coaching against me on the show and now he’s helping me out. It’s cool because he was there for my fights on the show so he’s one of the few people right now, who can take that and help me to improve. Even on the show I was really cool with Kyle Noke, Izzy and all those guys.
St. Martin: Having spent so much time training alongside George St-Pierre, how do you see Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler going down this weekend?
Laprise: I’ve trained with GSP but also a lot with Rory MacDonald, who just fought Lawler on the same card, so it’s unique. I like both guys. Robbie has been around forever and I’ve always admired his style. Hendricks, same thing. He’s a banger but he’s got great wrestling. I think it’s a great fight as long as Hendricks doesn’t take Lawler down. Johny has the edge in the wrestling. If they stay standing, it’s just a matter of time before somebody hits somebody. I’m super excited for that fight, that whole card.
To the mailbag:
Jamesglory: If you could have a dream match up with any fighter in the UFC, who would it be and why?
Laprise: Oh man. I’ve never even really thought about it. It would have to be some sort of striker that wouldn’t just try to take me down. Someone that wants to stand and bang. Maybe someone like Anthony Pettis. He’s flashy and throws all kinds of crazy stuff. He definitely wouldn’t try to take me down. It’d be a fun fight to be in.
St. Martin: As long as you’re not on the business end of the Showtime kick.
Laprise: Yea, for sure. Maybe it’d be better to fight someone closer to a brawler. That Chris Leben style.
St. Martin: What about someone a little in-between like a Michael Johnson.
Laprise: Yea I actually trained with Michael when he was at Tristar. He was up there when I was getting ready for the show and sparred a bunch with him. He’s good. Not to sound disrespectful or anything, but he’s much better in his fights than he is in the gym. He looked awesome in his last fight. Who’d he just beat?
St. Martin: No, it was a decision but Melvin never really came on. Melvin got eyepoked and didn’t initiate much action.
Laprise: Yea Michael’s very talented. It’s funny because he really helped me with some pointers on surviving the TUF house. He helped me with the ins and outs of the experience and to try not to worry about anything else but your fighting. He had some great inside information.
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.
I don’t remember the UFC doing a clip show mid-season before so Chad and I sort of broke from the format. With no fight to discuss, we opened it up more to things going on outside the show. Hope you enjoy.
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.
David St. Martin: So last week you were down in Chicago training with Team Curran. What did you go out there?
Chad Laprise: Well, Jeff Curran’s gym has been associated with my gym, Team Tompkins, for a long time. Pat Curran is fighting Daniel Straus this weekend in Bellator so about a month ago that whole crew came over for a week to get some work in. Pat wanted to do some sparring with one of my teammates, Jesse Ronson, because he’s a southpaw. So then myself, Sam Stout and Chris Horodecki went down to Chicago.
My team is definitely well rounded, but we’re more of a striking gym and Curran’s guys are animals on the ground. Great jiu jitsu, great wrestling.
St. Martin: How’s Pat looking for this weekend?
Laprise: Pat is a killer. There’s no way I see that guy losing. He’s looking very sharp, very focused. I was training with him every single day at practice and he’s looking mean. I can’t wait to see him fight.
St. Martin: Do you see it going the distance?
Laprise: I don’t know much about Straus but I honestly think Pat will finish him.
St. Martin: Speaking of Curran’s, how was training with Felice Herrig? How badly did she beat you up?
Laprise: Haha, Felice is like a 115-pound girl, right? She was in all the team practices but we didn’t train together at all. I’m a welterweight so she was mostly just training with some smaller guys. She was pretty much the only girl there. Jeff has some other girls in the BJJ classes but I think she was the only female fighter.
St. Martin: Are you picking her to win TUF 20?
Laprise: I didn’t get to see her in action too much but she looked pretty good. I’m pretty confident that she’ll do well on the show.
St. Martin: As the show progresses and the episodes air, how is your life changing?
Laprise: I definitely get stopped and recognized more around my home town. Everywhere I go people know me from the show, but I never got into the sport to be famous. I couldn’t care less about all that kind of stuff. I’m just focused on training and winning fights.
St. Martin: It’s interesting to see so much crossover between the two teams once the show wrapped. I know Elias Theodorou is over in Thailand with Rich Walsh at Tiger Muay Thai.
Laprise: It’s cool because Pat Cote was actually going to do his camp at Tiger because Kru Ash, our head striking coach at Tristar in Montreal coaches there, as well. Pat asked me if I wanted to come along to train, which would have been a great opportunity, but I was worried about getting sick. Huge flight over, huge flight back. I think it was easier for someone like Rich because it’s closer to Australia. I think he and Elias just finished up their camp there and should be heading home in a couple days. It’s good to see guys maintaining a friendship after the show.
St. Martin: Did you end up working with Izzy Martinez while you were in Chicago?
Laprise: No but I actually got together with Izzy’s assistant David Silva, who was also on the show. He hasn’t gotten much screen time but he’s an amazing wrestler and works with the MMA fighters at Team Curran. Of course, he was working with me on my wrestling. He was coaching against me on the show and now he’s helping me out. It’s cool because he was there for my fights on the show so he’s one of the few people right now, who can take that and help me to improve. Even on the show I was really cool with Kyle Noke, Izzy and all those guys.
St. Martin: Having spent so much time training alongside George St-Pierre, how do you see Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler going down this weekend?
Laprise: I’ve trained with GSP but also a lot with Rory MacDonald, who just fought Lawler on the same card, so it’s unique. I like both guys. Robbie has been around forever and I’ve always admired his style. Hendricks, same thing. He’s a banger but he’s got great wrestling. I think it’s a great fight as long as Hendricks doesn’t take Lawler down. Johny has the edge in the wrestling. If they stay standing, it’s just a matter of time before somebody hits somebody. I’m super excited for that fight, that whole card.
To the mailbag:
Jamesglory: If you could have a dream match up with any fighter in the UFC, who would it be and why?
Laprise: Oh man. I’ve never even really thought about it. It would have to be some sort of striker that wouldn’t just try to take me down. Someone that wants to stand and bang. Maybe someone like Anthony Pettis. He’s flashy and throws all kinds of crazy stuff. He definitely wouldn’t try to take me down. It’d be a fun fight to be in.
St. Martin: As long as you’re not on the business end of the Showtime kick.
Laprise: Yea, for sure. Maybe it’d be better to fight someone closer to a brawler. That Chris Leben style.
St. Martin: What about someone a little in-between like a Michael Johnson.
Laprise: Yea I actually trained with Michael when he was at Tristar. He was up there when I was getting ready for the show and sparred a bunch with him. He’s good. Not to sound disrespectful or anything, but he’s much better in his fights than he is in the gym. He looked awesome in his last fight. Who’d he just beat?
St. Martin: No, it was a decision but Melvin never really came on. Melvin got eyepoked and didn’t initiate much action.
Laprise: Yea Michael’s very talented. It’s funny because he really helped me with some pointers on surviving the TUF house. He helped me with the ins and outs of the experience and to try not to worry about anything else but your fighting. He had some great inside information.
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.
