With Laprise-Aubin Mercier, Theodorou-Westcott finals, TUF Nations Finale lineup set

With an all-Canada set of tournament finals, plus another pair of new matchups from the house, the TUF Nations Finale now is set for next week.

In the welterweight final, Canadaian teammates Chad Laprise (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Olivier Aubin-Mercier (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meet on the main card. And in the middleweight final, Elias Theodorou (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets his Team Canada teammate Sheldon Westcott (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

The tournament finals were set after Wednesday night’s final regular-season episode of “The Ultimate Fighter: Nations” on FOX Sports 1, which pitted fighters from Australia against a team from Canada.

On the preliminary card, at middleweight, Australia’s Vik Grujic (6-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who lost to Westcott in the semifinals, will meet Team Canada’s Nordine Taleb (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC). And at welterweight, Australia’s Chris Indich (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) takes on teammate Richard Walsh (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who fell in the semis against Aubin-Mercier.

In addition, Mark Bocek (11-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has a new opponent after Evan Dunham fell off the card with a rib injury, news first reported by MMAjunkie earlier this week. The Canadian will meet UFC newcomer Mike De La Torre (12-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

UFC officials made the “TUF: Nations” fights official on Thursday, but have not yet announced the Bocek-De La Torre bout. Bocek announced his new opponent on Twitter.

The TUF Nations Finale takes place April 16 at Colisee Pepsi in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The main card will air on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Laprise reached the finals with a unanimous decision win over Indich, then a third-round knockout of teammate Kajan Johnson in the semifinals that broke Johnson’s jaw. Aubin-Mercier had a decision win over Jake Matthews, then submitted Walsh to get to the final against his Canadian teammate.

Theodorou had a pair of decision wins to reach the final. He beat Zein Saliba in the elimination round, then needed three rounds to beat Australia’s Tyler Manawaroa in the semifinals. Westcott is the only one of the four finalist with two stoppages. He submitted Daniel Kelly, then stopped Grujic in the semis.

De La Torre, who trains at the MMA Lab in Arizona, joins the UFC on a three-fight winning streak. In January, he submitted Cameron Ramberg on a regional show in North Dakota. His lone fight in 2013 was a 57-second submission win, and before that he had a 75-second knockout in November 2012.

With the additions, the complete TUF Nations Finale card now includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET)

• Michael Bisping vs. Tim Kennedy
• Patrick Cote vs. Kyle Noke
• Elias Theodorou vs. Sheldon Westcott – “TUF Nations” middleweight-tournament final
• Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Chad Laprise – “TUF Nations” welterweight-tournament final
• Akira Corassani vs. Dustin Poirier

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 5 p.m. ET)

• K.J. Noons vs. Sam Stout
• Sarah Kaufman vs. Leslie Smith
• Ryan Jimmo vs. Sean O’Connell
• Dustin Kimura vs. George Roop

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 3 p.m. ET)

• Mark Bocek vs. Mike De La Torre
• Vik Grujic vs. Nordine Taleb
• Chris Indich vs. Richard Walsh
• Mitch Gagnon vs. Tim Gorman

For more on TUF Nations Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Sheldon Westcott)