Along with Elias Theodorou and fellow UFC Saskatoon competitors Misha Cirkunov and Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Laprise is one of the top prospects to emerge from this country and welcomes the opportunity to join his Tristar teammate Rory MacDonald in leading the next wave of Canadian talent to enter the Octagon in the future by continuing to put on entertaining fights and eventually add his name to the list of Canadians that have been able to call themselves UFC champions.
Advertisement
Jokes and lucky journalists aside, the focused featherweight points to old fashioned hard work in the gym and everything falling into place correctly for helping carry him to No. 5 in the division rankings heading into this weekend’s showdown with another young upstart in the 145-pound weight class, Brazilian Charles Oliveira.
“You know, I would say maybe talking to you”, laughs Holloway, who returns to action in the main event of Sunday’s UFC Fight Night card at the SaskTel Centre.
Holloway is ion the rise, as well.
And to what or whom does he credit his recent run of success? The 23-year-old Holloway has reeled off six straight wins leading into the headlining affair, including five finishes.
“After my last defeat we sat down and everyone talked about what we needed to change”, Oliveira said. I don’t have to rush the fight. I went in there against Frankie Edgar and did some things we didn’t train to do.
Aside from the Holloway-Oliveira tiff, there is also a co-main event to watch. Oliveira is owner of the most submission wins in featherweight history while Holloway is tied for the most overall stoppages. “A loss is a loss no matter if I got finished, I got knocked out, or I got choked out or whatever”. “I think my stand up is up to par with that, but I have to respect his stand up as much as he has to respect my ground game”. That means a meeting with the victor of UFC 194’s title unification bout between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor could be on horizon.
“It’s going to be a great fight”.
This truly has the potential to be the Fight of the Night considering both fighters are on respective hot streaks. Training in what he calls his best camp, Holloway believes a win could promote him to the number one contender spot in the division.
Advertisement
Surging featherweight contender Max Holloway feels he’s ready for a rematch with The Notorious.
