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. 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." Cheap Buccaneers Jerseys . - The Denver Broncos kept rookie wide receiver Tavarres King from joining the Green Bay Packers by promoting him to their active roster Tuesday. Buccaneers Jerseys Authentic China . Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. http://www.cheapbuccaneersjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-warren-sapp-jersey . Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. Cheap Buccaneers Jerseys Authentic . The 30-year-old Texas native was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round of the 2001 amateur draft. Duke spent six years in Pittsburgh and also had stints with Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati. Cheap Buccaneers Jerseys China . -- Conor Casey scored two goals, his first of the season, as the Philadelphia Union beat Chivas USA 3-0 on Saturday night.It was 10:35am on March 9, 2012. Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver. Wed been there for a few minutes already. We were early (as we usually are) for the Whitecaps practice, which was scheduled to begin at 11am. There wasnt a soul to be seen outside the dressing room, as all of the players and coaches were already inside preparing for training. The time is etched in my memory because it was then, at 10:35am, that Darren Mattocks came strolling down the hallway. Big headphones blaring, he didnt look like he had a care in the world. He certainly didnt look like a rookie who was late for the last practice before his first game as a professional soccer player. He bowled on by and walked into the dressing room - the last player to arrive by a wide margin. I turned to Luke, completely bewildered by what I had just witnessed, and asked him, "Is he having a laugh?" (Im paraphrasing - my choice of words were far more industrial than that.) "That would NEVER happen in Europe. No chance. The senior players would crucify him for that. And the manager would have him banished to train with the youth team." I couldnt believe what Id seen. In 18 years as a professional player in Canada and the UK, Id never seen a young player show such blatant disrespect for the rules and hierarchy of a football club. First to arrive, last to leave is a principle that all rookies (apart from Mattocks, clearly) adhere to religiously. They do so because they know that they not only have to impress their manager, but more importantly, they have to impress their teammates. They have to earn the respect of the senior players if they are ever going to be considered one of them. You see, experienced players can suss out a fraud in less than one training session, and it doesnt take long for them to figure out if a young player comes with an ego. Those egos dont last very long though, because the senior players simply dont tolerate them. They chip away at the arrogance of youth, exposing flaws until the young player sees the light; that they arent the finished article and that they have to work hard if they are ever going to fulfill their potential. It is a humbling that involves brutal honesty, but it teaches young players humility and mental resiliency - two vital ingredients in having a lengthy professional career. That humbling clearly hasnt happened for Darren Mattocks. He has been allowed to live in the bubble that he has created for himself - one in which he thinks hes already the finished article. Mattocks spoke on a Jamaican football program this week, where he revealed that he "carried Vancoouver to the playoffs last year" and that "every team in MLS wants me".dddddddddddd On former head coach Martin Rennie, Mattocks said this, "If me can do successful [sic] with my first season, and in my second season, you will try to jeopardize my career, Im not naive and Im not gonna stay (in Vancouver)." His responses were as brazen and as arrogant as Ive ever seen. You could write Mattocks attitude off to his youth, but he is 23-years old. Its not like he is a baby in the world of football. Hes a grown man, at an age where his European counterparts will have already amassed 150+ first team games. You could also argue that someone has been filling his head with ideas of grandeur, leading him to believe that he really is the world-class striker that he imagines himself to be. But these arguments are nothing more than excuses. They wont help Darren Mattocks. What he needs is some tough love. What he needs is for someone to hold a mirror in front of his game, so that he can see himself for the player that he really is. So here goes. Darren, you have exceptional athletic ability, and you are arguably one of the finest athletes in Major League Soccer. But you were voted the top prospect in MLS under the age of 24 last year because of your potential, not because you are the finished article. You are a 23-year old man, but you have the football intelligence of a 15-year-old boy. You are reactive, rather than proactive, and you use your pace and athleticism to make up for the fact that you are often in the wrong position to begin with. The timing of your runs is poor, your finishing is poor, and you do not retain possession of the ball nearly well enough to be considered amongst the leagues best. You did not play a starring role this season because you simply didnt earn the right to do so. You are judged on everything you do - in training, in games, in your demeanour on and off the field - not just on your statistics. Unless you realize this, you will never be in a position to fulfill your undoubted potential. Unless you realize this, you will become just another player who failed to live up to his potential. The choice is yours, Darren. You can carry on believing that it was Martin Rennies fault that you had a poor season. But youd be wrong. You are the only reason you struggled this year. If anything, Martin tried to protect you from the things Ive just told you, because Im not alone in my assessment of your game. Many of the senior players in your dressing room think the exact same things. And I suspect that now that Martin is gone, youll be hearing it from them very soon. For your sake, I hope you listen to them. 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