QUEBEC -- Welterweight Chad (The Disciple) Laprise won a split decision over Olivier Aubin-Mercier on Wednesday to become the first Canadian winner of the UFCs "Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show.
[b]Mike Miller Jersey[/b] . The judges scored it 28-29, 29-28, 30-27 for Laprise, who finished strongly in what was a very close fight. "I cant describe what I am feeling right now. People are asking me what it feels like to be the first winner of The Ultimate Fighter from Canadaa and all I can say is I feel blessed," said Laprise. "Olivier was tough. I knew he would be, hes a southpaw and has a very difficult style to figure out. He is young and will come again. "Right now, I feel so happy right now, so proud. I just had Dana White hand me a TUF finale trophy. I cant describe whats going on in my head." Laprise (9-0) got on his knees in the middle of the cage after the fight. Aubin-Mercier (5-1), seemingly favouring his right foot, hung on to his cornermen. The welterweight and middleweight finals of "The Ultimate Fighter Nations," which pitted Canada against Australian, were all-Canadian affairs after the Aussies were eliminated earlier. Torontos Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou stopped Edmontons Sheldon Westcott via second-round TKO in the middleweight final. After Theodorou (10-0) came into the music of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Westcott (9-2-1) ran into the arena to Imagine Dragons, almost wiping out as he turned a corner. It was a frantic opening as Westcott looked to take the fight to the ground quickly, hoping to bring his submission game into play. The bigger Theodorou fought him off and started punishing him with knees. Theodorous size and wrestling skills took their toll. He dumped Westcott midway through the second round and hammered him. The referee eventually stepped in to stop the beating at 4:41 Canadian coach Patrick (The Predator) Cote, who fought Australian coach Kyle Noke in a welterweight bout later on the Colisee Pepsi card, was runner-up to Travis Lutter on Season 4 of "The Ultimate Fighter," which featured veteran fighters looking for a second chance. Aubin-Mercier stalked Laprise, who looked to counter from the outside, as he waited for the right moment to try a takedown. Laprise stuffed two attempts in the first round but was cut under the left eye as the crowd chanted his opponents name. Laprise was finally taken down a minute into the second round, to the delight of the crowd. But he quickly got back up. Aubin-Mercier kept coming but never got his ground game going. Laprise denied another takedown to open the third but was bundled down soon after. Again he got back up quickly. Aubin-Mercier connected with kicks as Laprise continued to fight from the counter position. Laprise finished the fight with a flourish of blows. Wednesdays card marked the UFCs first visit to Quebec City. In addition to being teammates on the show, Laprise and Aubin-Mercier have also trained together at Montreals Tristar Gym, home to former UFC weltwerweight champion Georges St-Pierre. "Theyre both my friends," said GSP. "Both very nice guys." St-Pierre, however, picked Aubin-Mercier to win. The former champion has closer ties to Aubin-Mercier than Laprise -- they have known each other longer, live close to each other and Aubin-Mercier was an important training partner ahead of St-Pierres last fight against Johny Hendricks. Aubin-Mercier, 25, does most of his training at Montreals H2O Gym, A former member of the Canadian judo team, he advanced to the TUF Nations final by beating a pair of Australians: Jake Matthews by decision and Richard Walsh by submission. A native of Windsor, Ont., Laprise now makes his home in London, Ont., and trains mostly out of Adrenaline MMA Training and Fitness. Laprise, 27, won a unanimous decision over Australian Chris Indich before defeating Kayan Johnsons jaw via a brutal knockout to advance to the final. "It was difficult seeing the aftermath with Kajan and his jaw breaking, obviously," said Laprise. But both knew what they had signed up for. "That could easily just as well been me," Laprise said. Johnson returns to the cage in June to face lightweight Tae Hyun Bang at UFC 174 in Vancouver. Like others on the show, which wrapped up filming in December, Laprise was unable to talk about what happened until the episodes aired. "Keeping it a secret for so long was definitely tough," he said. Both Laprise and Aubin-Mercier have spent most of their fight career at lightweight (155 pounds) but competed at welterweight (170) on the show. Laprise normally walks around at 190 pounds. "Im probably one of the biggest lightweights in the division," said the five-foot-10 Laprise. "So me fighting at 170 is actually awesome." Laprise added after the fight: "Id like to drop down to 155 pounds now, Im a little small for 170 pounds. But I will fight anyone the UFC want me to. Im here to fight." Fighting aside, Laprise is a man of faith. After weighing in Tuesday, he donned his trademark large cross to square off with Aubin-Mercier. "I truly believe that God put me here for a reason. And thats to share his light through fighting. Everybody that sees me fight, they know Im a Christian. Hopefully I represent God well." He found religion at the age of 21. "My life has changed dramatically since and Im very grateful for that." Living with 15 other fighters under the same roof with cameras everywhere for six weeks during filming of the TV show was a challenge however. "It was tough, man," he said. "Youre constantly on film, every single day."
[b]Mike Bibby Jersey[/b] . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home.
[b]Mike Conley Jersey[/b] .35 million, avoiding arbitration. Davis led the majors last season with 53 home runs and 138 RBIs, both career highs. He earned $3. DENVER -- Phil Kessel keeps scoring and the Toronto Maple Leafs keep on winning. That four-game skid in early January seems as if its a long time ago. Kessel scored twice, James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist and the Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight win. Nazem Kadri also scored and James Reimer stopped 35 shots for Toronto. Kessel has been one of the hottest players in the league over the past 12 days, and it came at the right time for his team. The Maple Leafs were struggling when Kessel started scoring. He has six goals and eight assists during Torontos winning streak. "With Phil, if he continues to get chances, hes got a history behind him and he knows how to score goals," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said. The Maple Leafs are on their longest winning streak in eight years after losing four in a row. Toronto has climbed to fourth in the Eastern Conference during its win streak. The previous time Toronto won six straight was Dec. 23, 2005-Jan. 2, 2006. "Theres a lot more life in the room," defenceman Dion Phaneuf said. "Weve got a confidence in our dressing room that we feel good about ourselves." Kessel was playing for the University of Minnesota during Torontos previous six-game winning streak, but now hes leading the way for the Leafs ahead of the Sochi Olympics next month, where he will be part of Team USA once again. "Were winning, thats the most important thing," Kessel said. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals for the Avalanche, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere had 19 saves in relief of Semyon Varlamov. "We lost the game in the second period," MacKinnon said. "Their goalie made some good saves for them. Weve been playing well of late, but we cant let this game get us down too much." Colorado generated more early chances but Toronto scored first. Phaneuf sent a puck from his own end off the backboards and Kessel, who got behind the Avalanche defence, put a soft shot past Varlamov 3:56 iinto the game.
[b]Zach Randolph Jersey[/b]. "Dion made a good play, I kind of whiffed on it but it went in," Kessel said. The Avalanche failed to capitalize on two early power plays, and the Maple Leafs made it 2-0 on their first try on van Riemsdyks 20th goal at 17:41. Kadri redirected Jake Gardiners shot from the point 2:55 into the second period, giving Toronto a 3-0 lead and chasing Varlamov. Varlamov allowed three goals on 10 shots. "I think Varly was just a bit tired," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "I almost took him out after the first period. I didnt see in him the same energy that hes shown since the start of the year. When he gave up that third goal theres no need to push that." Giguere came in and Kessel made it 4-0 with his second of the night and team-leading 26th of the season. He nearly had his second hat trick of the season, but was denied by Jean-Sebastien Giguere in the third. Kessel finished with eight shots on goal. "I had a bunch tonight," Kessel said. "I missed some good chances." Giguere settled down, and the Avalanche finally got on the board when MacKinnon scored on a 2-on-1 break with P.A. Parenteau at 18:35 of the second period. Colorado turned up the pressure in the third and scored again on MacKinnons high wrist shot at 5:07. It was his 17th goal of the season. Colorado pulled Giguere for an extra skater with 2:56 remaining, but Jay McClement scored into the empty net to seal the win. "We played a decent enough of a hockey game to give ourselves a chance," Carlyle said. "The home teams going to come with a push and we withstood that." NOTES: Toronto RW Joffrey Lupul had two assists. ... Kessel extended his point streak to seven games. ... The Avalanche honoured referee Brad Watson before the game. Watson was officiating in his 1,000th NHL game. ... Colorado activated Parenteau and D Nate Guenin from the injured list. Parenteau missed 10 games with a sprained left knee and Guenin was out for seven games with an ankle injury. ' ' '
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