Canadian Chad Laprise has a date in the Octagon.

The Ultimate Fighter: Nations winner will square off against Brazil's Alan Patrick at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Mir on March 20 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia.

“On my season of the Ultimate Fighter it was Canada vs. Australia, so I have a lot of fans down there and I was really hoping to get to fight down there some day,” Laprise told TSN.ca. “The time is now and I’m looking forward to it.

The bout marks the first time the Chatham, Ontario native will fight outside of his home country.

“I’ve fought in the States before as an amateur but this will be my first fight where I have to really travel,” he said. “They were always close to home so I’m definitely looking forward to going down to Australia. It’ll be fun.”

Laprise (10-1) is coming off his first loss, a first-round TKO at the hands of Francisco Trinaldo at UFC Fight Night 74 last August.

He say his layoff had nothing to do with his physical fitness or injury, but just a part of the business of fighting.

“Right after that loss I really wanted to fight right away but then I sat back and really thought about things,” he said. “I really improved some things that I needed to work on and I think its probably the best thing that’s happened to me. I’m hungry right now.  I have that fire to get back in the cage.”

In Patrick (12-1), Laprise will face off against a man in much the same position as himself.

Patrick broke into the UFC with two straight wins - one over another Canadian, John Makdessi - before suffering his first career loss to Mairbek Taisumov by second-round TKO last June.

“Same as me, he’s coming off his first loss ever so I’m sure he’s going to be hungry to get back to that win column,” Laprise said. “It’s going to be a good challenge.”