UFC Fight Pass
Mac Laursen Gunning For UFC Opportunity
Streaking Canadian Urgent To Realize Next Level Dreams
There is a sense of urgency that radiates off Mac Laursen when it comes to progressing in his mixed martial arts career, one fueled by several different elements.
“I’m 30 years old — I turn 31 on April 5th — and I feel like it’s crazy with this fight game,” began Laursen when asked about that urgency just a few days ahead of his middleweight clash with Yohan Lainesse at Samourai MMA Chapter 12 on Friday night in Montreal. “You feel like you don’t have much time, and you want to get this done now because injuries catch up to you, life catches up to you, and I just want to get to the big show now and get this ball rolling; I don’t want to wait.
“I’ve had 35, 36 fights now if you add up all my pro and amateur fights, my Muay Thai, so I just want to show I’m the best welterweight in Canada and the best fighter period. I’m not afraid of any challenges and this ain’t my first rodeo going into someone’s backyard.”
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It’s not even the first time this year that Laursen has been the “out of towner” venturing to someone’s personal stomping grounds in search of a fistfight.
In May, the Calgary native traveled west to Vancouver and claimed the Battlefield Fight League welterweight title with a second-round submission win over longtime champ Dejan Kajic. Four months later, he was back on the west coast, successfully defending his belt against BFL RMF (Realest MF’er) champ Ashton Charlton, regrouping after a rough second round to submit the Sikjitsu representative in the third to earn his seventh straight victory overall.
“I like these challenges — they excite me and show what kind of dude I am,” he added. “I’m not afraid of no challenges and I’m not afraid of no man.”
In addition to wanting to prove himself as a fighter, being able to focus on his craft full time and eschew his 9-5 gig driving a forklift in a warehouse is another motivating factor for Laursen, but the biggest driving force is his father, who is currently battling lung cancer.
“He’s been doing good, thank you for asking,” began the Canadian prospect, providing an update on his dad’s condition. “He’s hanging there, being a true fighter, like he is. He’s in and out the hospital a bit, but he’s at home resting now, and he’s being the toughest fighter I know.
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“My dad is the hardest working man I know, and I’m just trying to be a hard-working man just like him,” continued Laursen, who acknowledged that part of the reason he took this short-notice opportunity against Lainesse up a division was the unknown amount of time he has left with his father. “I want my dad to see me fight one more time, because I don’t know how long he’s gonna be around.”
All that urgency, combined with the opportunity to face a recent UFC veteran in his first fight since departing the Octagon made this an opportunity that was too good for Laursen to pass up, and one that adds to the tremendous sense of pride he feels for the path he’s chosen to take in pursuing his UFC dreams.
“I’m not taking an easy route to the UFC — I’m taking a hard route — and I’m proud of myself,” said the 7-1 finisher, who has won each of his last seven outings after dropping his professional debut. “The only way to show you belong in the big show is fighting these tough fights.
“I thought after Ashton that maybe I deserved a shot in the UFC or maybe Contender Series. I didn’t hear anything back, and then I got offered Yohan, and I was like, ‘Okay.’ If I go out there and beat a UFC vet, especially go out there up a weight class at 185 — he’s a 170’er too, but he’s a big 170’er and it’s a tough matchup, so if I go in there and do my thing against Yohan, I don’t know what else I can do to get my shot.
“He’s a gamer, man; he’s a great fighter,” he continued, offering his thoughts on Lainesse. “I think he went 8-0 before he got in the UFC, had some crazy knockouts, so I’m proud of myself fighting these really tough guys.
“If I go out there and I smash him, like I said, I don’t know what else I can do.”
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His opponents over the course of his career had a 51-26-2 combined record at the time he faced them, with Kajic and Charlton having won 24 fights between them. Now he’s set to face Lainesse, who went 7-0 and claimed the CFFC welterweight strap before earning a first-round stoppage win over Justin Burlinson on Season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series prior to a 1-3 run over four trips into the Octagon.
He’s facing the toughest competition available to him — and going on the road to do so — and so far, he’s not only won, but continually earned finishes, which gives him the look and feel of the kind of guy who’s perfect for the UFC roster.
“I’m proud of myself, and I just want to be like a Shavkat (Rakhmonov), going out there and finishing everybody,” Laursen said when asked about his 100-percent finishing rate. “But I’ve just got to go out there and fight my fight. I know it’s like my coach Mike Miles says, ‘Let it happen; never force it.”
Should the Brazilian jiu jitsu white belt with the string of submission finishes add another to his resume this weekend, it truly feels like there is only one place left for him to go.
But even then, Laursen is still open to taking the toughest route possible if need be.
“I’ve got a tough task in front of me, and before I think of the UFC, I’ve got to think about Yohan,” he said, keeping the focus on Friday’s task. “I’ve been watching his Instagram, he’s getting ready, he’s not taking me (lightly) as well. He wants to get back to the UFC, I want to get to the UFC, so it’s two dogs that are gonna go in there and I’m a gangster, man — I’ll show up to your hometown, beat you, and head back home.
“But if I beat Yohan, my last three wins — what can you say?” he asked again. “Last three fights, beating these three guys, I think that shows… The Ultimate Fighter is coming for welterweights and flyweights too, so I’d even like to get on that!”
Whatever it takes to get there, Mac Laursen will not be denied.
