Canadian Chad Laprise improved to 12-2 with an impressive victory over Brian Camozzi Saturday in a featured UFC 213 preliminary bout.
The 30-year-old Chatham, Ont., native had been competing in the lightweight division for the past 2 1/2 years but returned to welterweight for his tilt against Camozzi. The last time Laprise fought in the 170-pound division was when beat Olivier Aubin-Mercier in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter: Nations welterweight tournament in 2014.
Laprise had a strong first round, utilizing plenty of movement, speed and feints to keep Camozzi at bay. Camozzi made adjustments and gave Laprise some problems in a close second round but the Canadian landed a straight right to Camozzi’s body midway through the third round. Camozzi was hurt by the shot and Laprise swarmed.
WOW! Spectacular WW return for @ChadLaprise at #UFC213! pic.twitter.com/NA2DVNH5NE
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) July 9, 2017
“I knew I’d have to get inside and rip the body,” Laprise told Joe Rogan in a post-fight interview before calling out Mickey Gall and asking to compete at UFC 215 in Edmonton.
Laprise wasn’t the only Canadian to compete at UFC 213. Alberta’s Jordan Mein dropped a unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad.
Also on the prelims, Oleksiy Oliynyk submitted Travis Browne despite being rocked early on.
Thiago Santos finished Gerald Meerschaert with strikes in middleweight action. Six of Santos’s seven UFC wins have been by either knockout or TKO.
Cody Stamann made a successful UFC debut, topping Terrion Ware with a unanimous decision.
In the opening bout of the night, Trevin Giles remained unbeaten as he picked up a second-round knockout win over James Bochnovic.
Videos courtesy of Sportsnet MMA contributor James Lynch. You can follow James on Twitter @LynchOnSports and subscribe to his YouTube page.
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