Scouting Report: Olivier Aubin-Mercier

Olivier Aubin-Mercier

Born: Feb. 23, 1989 (Age: 34) in Montreal
Division: Lightweight
Height: 5’9”
Reach: 70.5”
Record: 18-5 (7-0 PFL)
Association: H2O MMA/Tristar Gym
Stage of Career: Prime

Summary: Aubin-Mercier has maximized his potential in the Professional Fighters League, becoming an effective striker to go along with his considerable abilities as a grappler. He has been outstruck and outgrappled before, but his being proficient in both areas now presents a difficult challenge for opponents, as it is not easy to neutralize him on two fronts. In the striking department, his main threat is a truly great leg kick. With it being fast, sudden and hard, it has hurt and compromised many opponents. He is lacking in terms of a jab and his cross, but he has now developed a solid overhand right and a nice right hook—a very tight, technically solid shot that has genuine power, as shown in his knockout of Steven Ray. In the grappling department, Aubin-Mercier has good takedowns from the clinch and excellent top control. His own takedown defense is solid but not impenetrable, and while he is excellent at getting back to his feet, he has been outgrappled ahead of decision losses in the past. Making him even tougher to beat now, Aubin-Mercier has improved his cardio in the PFL and can now fight competently for all three rounds. He has become an intelligent mixed martial artist, showing uncommon improvement in his early 30s while making consistently smart decisions during matches.

STRIKING

• Stance: Southpaw.
• Hand Speed: Average.
• Jab: Mediocre at best. Because he reaches and often telegraphs the punch, it is fairly easy to avoid or counter.
• Cross: While fast and sudden, it is not quite straight enough and is sorely lacking in power.
• Right Hook: Very tight and mostly solid from a technical standpoint, but it lacks speed and suddenness. It carries some power, as it was responsible for finishing Ray in the 2022 PFL lightweight final.
• Overhand Right: Solid mechanically, with a nice arc and accuracy.
• Uppercuts: Almost never throws them.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Tends to throw one shot at a time.
• Favorite Combination(s): The one-two, though the one is little to worry about and the 2, while fast and sudden, is lacking in power.
• Leg Kicks: Fast, sudden and hard. He has badly hurt multiple opponents with this strike.
• Body Kicks: Strangely enough, he almost never throws them despite how effective they are from the southpaw stance.
• Head Kicks: They lack flexibility and take too long to reach their target.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Aubin-Mercier’s main striking weapons are his outstanding leg kicks. They have everything one could wish for in a strike, catching opponents off-guard by being fast and sudden but also possessing plenty of power. He has hurt and compromised many foes with it since joining the PFL, and it is the strike that may have improved the most since he was in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. His boxing is solid, though it should be noted that his jab is of little concern and his left cross lacks power. However, his overhand right and right hooks are effective tools, especially the latter—a nice, technical shot that carries legitimate power. He does tend to only throw a punch at a time and is heavily reliant on that leg kick.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: Tremendously powerful in the clinch, where he can gain separation against virtually anyone to either return to open space, throw knees or get takedowns.
• Technique: Excellent, with exceptional balance, thanks to his judo base.
• Knees: Strong and damaging, as turns his hips into them nicely.
• Elbows: Does not throw them.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Almost impossible to keep in the clinch and score against.

Befitting his judo base, Aubin-Mercier is extraordinarily difficult to handle in the clinch. He has fantastic physical strength and excellent technique, making it a chore to get much done against him in terms of grappling or striking. Aubin-Mercier can also work his takedowns well, along with delivering a powerful knee to the body.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: He tends to reach. Slow and fairly easy to defend, even for the likes of Darrell Horcher.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Excellent balance, strength and technique. Took Horcher down at will from close range, including his use of a few high-crotch singles against the cage and a nice turning inside trip.
• Takedown Defense: Sound but possible to exploit. He was taken down multiple times by Gilbert Burns, and even more recently, Ray exploited him with a mat return. Aubin-Mercier sometimes struggles to recover from a strike or from being out position.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Outstanding, especially his technical wall walks.
• Submissions: He excels at taking the back, locking in a body triangle and attacking with rear-naked choke attempts, though such maneuvers have been hard to pull off at his current level of competition. • Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Knows exactly how to defend submissions and has never been tapped, but he has made some grappling mistakes and been exploited in his fights against Burns, Diego Ferreira and Arman Tsarukyan—all stout grapplers.
• Top Control: Applies tremendous pressure, features good wrist control and keeps opponents grounded.
• Ground-and-Pound: Consists of left hands to the head, many of them arm punches lacking power, and the occasional telegraphed, sweeping right. However, he occasionally strings them together well, and they have solid accuracy.

Aubin-Mercier features excellent offensive wrestling from the clinch, where he uses his judo base to get multiple takedowns, even though his wrestling from the shot is fairly easy to defend. Once on top, he has suffocating top control and excels at controlling the wrists. He can take the back and attack with rear-naked choke attempts, though his ground-and-pound is not all that damaging or threatening. Defensively, it is possible to get the better of Aubin-Mercier, though it takes an outstanding grappler to do so. He can potentially be taken down, but it has proven exceedingly difficult to keep him on the canvas thanks to his ability to wall walk back to his feet. He defends fairly well on his back but makes certain mistakes that the best grapplers can exploit.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: Powerful and fairly dynamic.
• Cardio: Much improved since his UFC days and can now be seen as up to par. Fights at a measured pace but can go three solid rounds, only slowing down minimally in each stanza.
• Chin: Satisfactory, though he has been hurt and dropped before by Burns and Horcher, among others.
• Recuperative Powers: Recovers amazingly fast.
• Intelligence: He has shown noticeable improvement in his early 30s, making correct decisions during the course of fights and knowing when to strike or grapple.