Fred Dupras: Take Two | UFC FIGHT PASS

Paired off with Canadian veteran Jesse Arnett in a bout for the Montreal-based promotion’s featherweight title, Dupras, who lives a couple blocks away from the venue, was focused on earning the biggest victory of his career in front of a partisan crowd filled with family and friends, and heading into the summer with an abundance of possibilities in front of him.

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But it wasn’t meant to be.

“It was jam packed! I was ready to go!” began Dupras, recounting the disappointing situation that transpired in June ahead of his rescheduled clash with Arnett on Friday night in Montreal at Samourai MMA: Chapitre 11. “It really hurt. It really felt like a kick in the balls.”

On the night of the event, Dupras rolled into the arena and passed by Arnett in the back, getting a sense that something was off as he headed for his dressing room. Once there, someone came in and mentioned a possible issue with Arnett’s hand wraps, which the H20 MMA representative was quick to dismiss, understandably focused on getting into the cage and handling his business, regardless of what was going on in Arnett’s locker room.

But with the event in full swing and his hands wrapped, Dupras was informed that Arnett would not be able to compete, and the Laval native was understandably crushed.

“I don’t know why the emotion came at me. It was more like, ‘I did all the sacrifice with the baby and everything,’ and after, I was thinking, ‘All the people came here for me,’” explained Dupras, who welcomed a baby boy with his girlfriend just before the event, and spent his camp alternating between training sessions, teaching private classes, and getting additional work in at home. “The show was already started, so we can’t do nothing. It was the third fight or the fourth fight, and they said they were not gonna let me fight, so I was like, ‘F***!’”

The disappointment of missing out on the biggest opportunity of his career to date left the French-Canadian prospect wrestling with a strange mix of emotions.

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On one hand, he didn’t want to face or beat any version of Arnett that was anything less than 100 percent, because such a win wouldn’t feel as meaningful or deserved. On the other hand, going out with some of his family and friends that came to watch him compete without having stepped into the cage left him feeling like he had lost.

“You feel like you lost,” said the affable Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, who has earned all seven of his wins by first-round submission, never once venturing into the third minute of any of his eight professional bouts. “It’s funny to say because I’ve lost in the past, but I feel like everybody is down, too. It feels like a loss, emotionally.

“I know I didn’t lose anything, but I feel almost like I worked for nothing, and that’s why I wanted to re-do the fight: it means the first camp is still good for this one.”

Rather than move on from the pairing and see what else was available to him, Dupras has re-framed June’s heartbreak as a warm-up to this week’s fight; viewing everything that transpired as both a test of his mental fortitude and an opportunity to re-double his efforts and ensure that he turns up at his absolute best when he and Arnett finally share the cage on Friday night at La Tohu and airing exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS.

“I feel like it’s an extension of the first camp,” offered Dupras, who trains with standouts like Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Michael DuFort, while mixing in trips to Tristar Gym, as well. “It’s kind of like a small test. It’s like, ‘You were ready or not?’

“I was very ready, but the extension of this made me more confident in what I was doing. I think I’m more in shape than I was the last camp. I was very comfortable last camp, but this one I feel like I’m more dangerous, more explosive, better cardio; nothing happens for nothing. Maybe last time in June, I could have lost, and now because I did this, I’m going to beat him; you never know.

“My father always made me think, ‘Don’t see every time the negative; you’re not gonna go forward if you think like that,’” continued the rising featherweight talent. “I wasn’t even mad at Jesse or anything like that; if you’re sick, you’re sick.

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“It’s not my problem,” he added with a smile. “I’m ready. I did everything perfect. I’m a real athlete. I’m not a fighter, a savage, or any of these things; I’m there to perform and I’m there to win.”

And after missing out on the opportunity to experience both of those things in June, the 30-year-old is champing at the bit to make the walk on Friday night, perform, and collect the biggest win of his career.

“It’s funny to say, but it excites me,” Dupras said with a smile when asked about finally sharing the cage with Arnett and getting his hand raised. “My last fight I had was a pretty good fight, but I got it on 10 days’ notice, so it passed a little bit under the radar. For me, the guy still had almost 25 fights, so it was a big deal, but Jesse, for me, is a big name. Here in Montreal, everybody knows him, so it puts even more hype on it. I have goosebumps already.

“I think this week it’s destiny,” he added. “It’s going to be way worse (for him) than it was on June 21. I’m here to do a job and I’m gonna finish it.

“This is my time.”