Skip to content
  • Home
  • Upcoming Events
  • Canadian Fighters
  • About
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • “Rose City Phoenix” Randi Field
MM-eh

MM-eh

Just Canadian MMA

  • Promoter Christian Mancuso of Front Row Fight Club - Photo by And Cotterill/ MM-eh
    Front Row Fight Club Enters Canadian MMA Scene General
  • Ryan Ford (right) with Artur Beterbiev - MM-eh
    Ryan Ford on Unified Opponent Robert Hale, “He’s An Average Fighter” Pre Fight Interview
  • Mike Malott at Niagara Top Team - 24 Mar 2022 - Photo by Andy Cotterill
    Mike Malott on UFC 273 Opponent Mickey Gall – I don’t see anywhere where he’s clearly better than me or even on my level Pre Fight Interview
  • Julia Budd - Rory MacDonald - PFL 6 - MM-eh
    Julia Budd vs Kayla Harrison – Rory MacDonald vs Sadibou Sy To Headline PFL 6 Fight Announcement
  • Aaron Jeffery MMA
    Aaron Jeffery On Dana White’s Contender Series Redemption Pre Fight Interview
  • Ashley Nichols LFA 142 MM-eh
    Muay Thai Champion Ashley Nichols Seeks To Add MMA Title At LFA 142 Pre Fight Interview
  • Jasmine Jasudavicius - Photo by Andy Cotterill
    Jasmine Jasudavicius set to take on Natália Silva at UFC Fight Night Fight Announcement
  • Photo of Elias Theodorou by Allan Zilkowsky
    ECC 17 “Rise of Champions” Quick Results Fight Results
Yohan Lainesse (left) with Coach Levis Labrie at the UFC Performance Institute. Photo courtesy of Levis Labrie.

Lainesse : To Beat Me You Need To Be Perfect

Posted on 1 November 20213 April 2022 By mmehandy No Comments on Lainesse : To Beat Me You Need To Be Perfect

By Andy Cotterill


You might read what I’m about to write and think that it’s a silly thing for me to say.


Fighters are people.


Well duh, you think, of course they are.


But what I’m more precisely tying to get at, is that just like people have numerous types of mindsets that they use to travel through life, the exact same thing applies to fighters as well.


Some are optimistic. Some are pessimistic. Some put in hard work, and some just coast along for the ride. Some exist unnoticed, and some do great things.


Some people are exceptional, and so are some fighters.


Quebec mixed martial artist Yohan “White Lion” Lainesse told me that he knew he was a special fighter sometime after his first ever amateur fight, a loss. He said he was achieving success with his striking in the first round, until he experienced what almost every other mixed martial artist experiences at some point in their career, a fading gas tank an an opponent who knew how to exploit it. In Lainesse’s case his opponent took him to the ground and submitted him.


“I lost by submission and I never had done Jiu jitsu before,” he told MM-eh from his hotel room in Las Vegas, where he was winding down his training camp in preparation for his Tuesday night battle against Justin Burlinson on UFC President Dana White’s Contender Series.


That first sentence is still a common one to hear from so many fighters who enter MMA only knowing how to punch and/or kick, and often times that career is over right then and there.


But for some, like Lainesse, they use that eye-opening revelation to guide them on a new path to success.


“After that I waited like 8 months before fighting and I worked on my jiu jitsu… worked on my jiu jitsu a lot.” He said.


It was also around that time that Lainesse made the fateful decision to make his MMA career his full time focus, and if you ask him, all of his dedication is now paying off.


“The last year I had four fights in 11 months with three knockouts. Knockout of the year with my flying knee (a 14-second affair over Lirim Rufati in CFFC), and I did three, 5-minute rounds, so a lot of experience, a lot of confidence, and a lot of maturity.”


Entering Tuesday night’s fight Lainesse finds himself with an unblemished 7-0 professional record, and he’ll be squaring off with England’s Justin Burlinson, who is also bringing his undefeated 6-0 professional record to the table, however he also has an impressive 17-1 amateur record and is on a 21 fight winning streak.


You might think that these numbers worry Lainesse, but he says that’s not the case.


“Every win I did, I did with a game plan, and I did exactly what I said to all the people in my team. I know he’s a dangerous guy on his feet and on the ground, but to beat me you need to be more than dangerous, you need to be perfect.”


Like Canadian fighters Jasmine Jasudavicius and Aaron Jeffery before him, Lainesse and his head coach Levis Labrie went to Vegas a few weeks before his fight to acclimatize and to do all of the UFC’s pre-event administrative rigmarole like taking profile photos and shooting video roll, and also like the other two he joined the welcoming team at Syndicate MMA to finish up his training camp.


Las Vegas is also home to the UFC Performance Institute, which Lainesse describes as amazing.


“The UFC takes care of us, seriously, I’m living the dream right now.”


For most fighters that’s all the UFC will ever be for them, a dream, but for Lainesse there is no question in his mind that he will do absolutely everything he can to transform his dream into his reality.


“If I don’t win November 2nd all this beautiful story means nothing for me. So I’ll keep focused, keep my feet on the ground, and we’ll live the dream after the win.”


Whenever I finish an interview I like to ask my subject if I missed anything that they would like to share.
When Lainesse answered, I got the feeling that he was sharing some insider information that perhaps the general public shouldn’t know…yet.


“I have a good mindset and a good team around me, Patrick Cote now is going to take care of my career a little bit more. I want to do some big things in this sport. I’m not just here to be flashy. I’m not here to just go in the UFC to tell that I’m in the UFC. It’s a hard sport mentally and physically and I’m going in there to be undefeated and to stay undefeated for a long time. I’m not just here for a couple of months or a couple of years, I’m going into the UFC for sure, and one day I’ll be fighting for the belt and I’m going to win this belt.”


You heard it here first, folks.

Pre Fight Interview Tags:DWCS, UFC, Yohan Lainesse

Post navigation

Previous Post: Aaron Jeffery On Dana White’s Contender Series Redemption
Next Post: The Return of MM-eh

Related Posts

  • Jasmine Jasudavicius - Photo by Andy Cotterill
    Jasmine Jasudavicius Heading Into Sophomore UFC Fight With Eyes Wide Open Pre Fight Interview
  • Aaron Jeffery Pre Bellator Debut - MM-eh
    Aaron Jeffery on Mullets and Bellator Pre Fight Interview
  • Anthony Romero Fury FC 60 - MM-eh
    Anthony Romero Is Perfect Just Where He Is Pre Fight Interview
  • Ryan Ford (right) with Artur Beterbiev - MM-eh
    Ryan Ford on Unified Opponent Robert Hale, “He’s An Average Fighter” Pre Fight Interview
  • Mike Malott at Niagara Top Team - 24 Mar 2022 - Photo by Andy Cotterill
    Mike Malott on UFC 273 Opponent Mickey Gall – I don’t see anywhere where he’s clearly better than me or even on my level Pre Fight Interview
  • Justin Bourgeois FLA 4 - MM-eh
    Justin Bourgeois and the Foundation for Success Pre Fight Interview

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives

  • March 2023
  • December 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • May 2013
  • April 2013

Categories

  • Exclusive
  • Fight Announcement
  • Fight Results
  • General
  • Live Fight Results
  • Pre Fight Article
  • Pre Fight Interview
  • Uncategorized
  • Weigh-In Results

Recent Posts

  • BTC 19: Kingston Live Results
  • BTC 19 Kingston Weigh-In Results
  • Will Vancouver or Toronto Host UFC 289 on June 10th?
  • Marc-André “Powerbar” Barriault vs Eryk Anders added to UFC 289
  • Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Miranda Maverick at UFC 289

Recent Comments

  1. BTC 19: Kingston Live Results - MM-eh on BTC 19 Kingston Weigh-In Results
  2. Dave on Will Vancouver or Toronto Host UFC 289 on June 10th?
  3. Suspire on Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Miranda Maverick at UFC 289
  4. Will Vancouver or Toronto Host UFC 289 on June 10th? - MM-eh on Marc-André “Powerbar” Barriault vs Eryk Anders added to UFC 289
  5. Silvers on Will Vancouver or Toronto Host UFC 289 on June 10th?
  • Faisal Rehman MM-eh
    Doctor Faisal Rehman, Pro MMA Debut For a Cause Pre Fight Interview
  • Julia Budd - Rory MacDonald - PFL 6 - MM-eh
    Julia Budd vs Kayla Harrison – Rory MacDonald vs Sadibou Sy To Headline PFL 6 Fight Announcement
  • NYE Resolutions 2022-2023 MM-eh
    New Year’s Resolutions – Canadian MMA Edition General
  • MM-eh Wayback Thumb
    Julia Budd Draws Ediane Gomes At Invicta 6 Fight Announcement
  • Jasmine Jasudavicius before Natalia Silva - MM-eh
    The Joy of Jasmine Jasudavicius Pre Fight Interview
  • Kyle Nelson - MM-eh
    A More Mature Kyle Nelson Has Confidence Aplenty Heading Into UFC Fight Night Pre Fight Interview
  • MM-eh Wayback Thumb
    Challenge MMA 1 Weigh-In Results – Bossé and Grummet Main Event Weigh-In Results
  • Front Row Fight Club Update MM-eh
    Nash/Balmir Off, Michael Imperato vs Keith Carson Saves Main Event of Front Row Fight Club “Brawl By The Falls’ General

Copyright © 2023 MM-eh.

Powered by PressBook News WordPress theme