Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Canadian Fighters

6. Olivier Aubin-Mercier

The still very much active “Canadian Gangster” comes in at a respectable No. 6. Debuting in the UFC at welterweight at 25 years old, Aubin-Mercier started out as a talented submission grappler with a nice judo base. However, his striking at the time was decidedly limited and he could still be outwrestled by sufficiently skilled foes. His first loss came in the “TUF” Finale against fellow French-Canadian Chad Laprise, undefeated at the time, via split decision. Aubin-Mercier then dropped down to lightweight and won three in a row, submitting Jake Lindsey and David Michaud, and soundly outpointing Tony Sims. Aubin-Mercier then stepped up his level of competition against Brazilian grappler Diego Ferreira. Aubin-Mercier was actually a considerable favorite here, but Ferreira had a slight superiority in terms of both striking and grappling, edging out a decision. Aubin-Mercier responded with a nice 4 fight winning streak, with submissions of Thibault Gouti and Drew Dober, a split decision verdict against the talented Anthony Martin, and the first knockout of his career, a 53 second pasting of Evan Dunham. Unfortunately, Aubin-Mercier suffered three losses in a row, though none look bad in retrospect, as they were competitive decisions against Alexander Hernandez, Gilbert Burns, and Arman Tsarukyan.

After that losing streak, most dismissed Aubin-Mercier as a serious contender, and there was little fanfare when he signed with the PFL. However, Aubin-Mercier would vastly improve as a fighter in the two years from his last UFC appearance to his first one in the PFL, turning his striking from a weakness into a fearsome strength. Aubin-Mercier began with a convincing decision over former Bellator title challenger Marcin Held and then another dominant verdict over former UFC contender Darrell Horcher. Aubin-Mercier then faced former PFL lightweight champion Natan Schulte, who possessed a very similar judo-based grappling style. But Aubin-Mercier's newly improved stand-up was the difference, taking a split decision. After dominant 15-minute shellackings of Raush Manfio and Alex Martinez, Aubin-Mercier knocked out Stevie Ray in the PFL finals to be crowned the organization's lightweight champion, with many, myself included, considering him Top 10 fighter at 155 pounds. That takes us to the current day, where Aubin-Mercier has just turned 34 years old, is riding an impressive six-fight winning streak, and is scheduled to face another former UFC contender Shane Burgos in April. Will his future performances see him go higher or lower on this list? Will we ever know how good Aubin-Mercier truly is being in the PFL for the foreseeable future? Difficult and unclear questions, but for now, Aubin-Mercier is a very solid inclusion in this list.

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