SASKATOON – Chad Laprise has yet to taste defeat in his professional career, and if he picks up another victory at UFC Fight Night 74, he said he’s ready to step up and fight a ranked fighter.
Laprise (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia” in 2014, faces Francisco Trinaldo (17-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) on the main card of tonight’s event, which takes place at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The card airs on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
It’s a fight that Laprise is happy with and thinks sets up the next stage in his career.
“It’s definitely a great matchup,” Laprise told MMAjunkie. “He’s got 10 fights in the UFC, and he’s 7-3. So it’s not like he’s a 50-50 guy. It’s a fight that kind of puts me – once I beat him, I want somebody ranked after that or somebody at least in the top 20.”
Trinaldo competed at middleweight on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” before dropping down to lightweight. That shift in weight signifies an interesting challenge for Laprise, who knows Trinaldo is big for a 155-pound fighter.
“I just want to prove to myself and everybody else that I’m ready to fight a guy like Francisco Trinaldo, who is a seasoned vet, who has been around here for a long time, and he’s no easy task,” Laprise said. “This is definitely a tough fight and I’m ready for it.
“He really doesn’t have a weakness. He’s good everywhere, and he’s super big. He fought at middleweight on ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ He’s a big, strong, grinder guy who is going to come to fight.”
Laprise, a Canadian fighter who trains at Tristar, has had a pretty good training partner to prepare himself for the challenge of a big, strong grinder: former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
St-Pierre retired in November 2013 as one of the UFC’s most dominant champions in history, and one known for his grinding wrestling game.
“He actually helped me out a lot for this fight,” Laprise said. “Obviously, Trinaldo is a big, strong kind of grinder, and Georges helped me a lot with the wrestling and jiu-jitsu. I would partner up with him. If I was doing five rounds of grappling, I would do three with him at least. He was a big help for my camp, and I appreciate his help.”
For more on UFC Fight Night 74, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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