Laprise Talks Next Bellator Fight, Mayberger, Tristar and Fighting at 155

Chatham mixed martial arts fighter Chad Laprise has signed on for his next fight, a tilt at Bellator 76 on October 12th from Ceasar Casino in Windsor. Laprise’s opponent will be confirmed very soon and it will be his second consecutive fight on his home turf in front of family and friends. He is on a very nice track in his young career and has been taking advantage of a nice opportunity to train with the best.

I spoke with the undefeated fighter out of Adrenaline Training Center in London via phone after an evening training session last week.

“Training is good everyday and I have been training down at Tristar too so I’ll probably spend three weeks or so in Montreal. I went there a while ago and it went really well so, they have so many good guys there. It’s good to change it up and they have dorm rooms there now so they have guys from all over the world that come there.”

Laprise has definitely earned his opportunities in his career, and he just recently picked up Mitch Mayberger as his agent. Mayberger is Canada’s top representative of mixed martial arts talent with UFC fighters John Makdessi, Ivan Menjivar and Yves Jabouin in his stable. Aside from those big Canadian names he also has Canadian regional stalwarts Kajan Johnson, Alex Garcia and Mike Ricci under his watch. Laprise is in good hands.

Laprise is 5-0 in his career and 1-0 in Bellator following his first round submission win in April at Ceasars. He is a powerful puncher, who showed top tier skill on the ground in his last fight, submitting Josh Taveirne with a nicely timed triangle choke. All of his fights have been in the welterweight division at 170-pounds but he has decided to cut down to 155-pounds for the first time in his career.

“It’s a big cut. I have always fought at that weight but i was a bit small for 170. I could make it easily. I walk around at 185-pounds and then get down to 175-170 when I’m in really good shape. The guy I fought last fight was 191 for the fight and I was 173 come fight time. That’s a big disadvantage that I don’t want to give up.”

“After being at Tristar and seeing guys like George St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald, those guys are over 200. Rory MacDonald is monster.”

It is a good move for Laprise to fight at lightweight, provided he can make that cut and feel good and strong enough to do his thing when the cage door closes. You just never know until you actually do it, and it’s a good look into the serious science of weight cutting in MMA. Not many fighters fight at their natural weight anymore.

Once Laprise’s opponent is confirmed I will publish it here on CKSN, but regardless of who it turns out to be, my money is on Laprise to come out on top.