Laprise Moves Closer To UFC Contract With Knockout

If his performance on episode 10 is an indication of what Chatham fighter Chad Laprise does to his friends, then I can’t imagine what he would do to his enemies.

All jokes aside, as we all know that Chad is a truly good, salt of the earth guy, one thing is abundantly clear now for the UFC. The Disciple is here and he is gunning for the win in this competition. Last night’s episode was his time to shine and he could not have made a better statement with his performance of precision boxing, take down defence and ultimately, crushing power in his right hand to get a second round knockout over fellow Canadian, friend and teammate Kajan Johnson. Laprise is now in the finals of the TUF Nations competition with the Finale taking place in Quebec City on April 16th.

Chad put it completely together in the fight against a game and experienced Canadian fighter in Kajan Johnson. He picked at him with a good jab and solid footwork in the first round and he discouraged Johnson by defending a takedown attempt to dictate where the fight would be fought. Johnson almost had him at the very end of the first and Laprise had to hold the fence for a second to keep himself from completely going down. Yves Lavigne issued him a warning at the end of the round.

Chad completely took over from there and was technically superior to the desperate and unorthodox Johnson, and then boom the right hand put an abrupt end to the fight. I must say here that I sat there dumbfounded and confused and wrestled between utter joy and happiness for Laprise, while being sickened by the end of Johnson. I have watched Johnson and his flamboyant style and personality for years and while he isn’t done in this sport if he doesn’t want to be, he has had his face broken before this time and surely he broke his jaw in that fight.

I have also been following our local man Chad in recent times as well, and watching fights do sometimes pose that dilemma going in. Of course I wanted Chad to win. I want him in the UFC where his talent and dedication belong, but I can’t help but sit here with a bad taste in how that episode went down for Kajan. This is no reflection on Chad, you look after number one in that situation and I would act exactly as he did. My issue is not with him. My issue is with the rest of the people all around that “team” and coach Patrick Cote in particular. Johnson has always been a lone wolf and maybe that came back to bite him but I’m sorry, there had to be a better and more fair way to handle that situation and fight prep for Kajan. Whether it was how they produced and edited the episode, but that was not in my mind how a Canadian team should act. I was not impressed. Laprise is the only one exempt from criticism in how it was handled. Cote should have at the very least designated two guys to Kajan’s corner, for support and a voice to be able to rely on. It was like he had no friends, but friends aside, teammates should recognize a situation, have some empathy and help the guy out whether you want Chad to win or not.

That’s the Canadian way.

Despite all that, I couldn’t be happier for Laprise and he is now one win away from getting a well-deserved UFC contract. I think it’s his to lose.