Olivier Aubin-Mercier predicting a third round KO of Alex Hernandez at UFC Calgary

UFC lightweight Olivier Aubin-Mercier (11-2) impressed in his last fight, at UFC 223 in April, by finishing the veteran Evan Dunham in just under a minute. The ‘Canadian Gangster’ ended Dunham’s night with a series of body shots,punches and knees, resulting in a quick TKO.

It was the first knockout win of Aubin-Mercier’s seven year professional career (he does have eight submission victories). When asked by Bloody Elbow whether he was relieved to have gotten his first stoppage via strikes as a pro, Aubin-Mercier said simply, “I don’t care.”

“I’m just happy it happened, but I wouldn’t mind if I had no KOs in my entire career, to tell you the truth,” continued the former finalist of TUF Nations: Canada vs. Australia.

The win over Dunham was not only Aubin-Mercier’s first pro TKO, it was also the first time he had stopped a UFC fight in the first round. The Tristar product called the win a “flawless victory,” but revealed that doesn’t mean the experience was perfect.

“The bad thing, though, with those victories is that I was in the cage for like 50 seconds,” explained Aubin-Mercier. “You don’t really get better with that time in the Octagon, maybe you’re going to be more sure of yourself, but other than that you don’t get a lot of experience in the cage for 50 seconds.”

“So yeah, I’m happy with the win, that’s for sure,” added Aubin-Mercier. “But I don’t think it’s a fight that is going to make me grow as an athlete. But, I’m going to take more of them if I could.”

Aubin-Mercier’s victory over Dunham began with a hook to the American’s rib cage. That punch was followed by a knee that dropped Dunham. Further punishment on the ground forced referee Todd Anderson to call off the action.

As soon as the fight was over Aubin-Mercier yelled and looked close to weeping. “I’m an emotional man,” laughed Aubin-Mercier when thinking back on the scene. “You can see in all my fights, I almost cry. I don’t know, this one was special too since the fight before was canceled. Then they give me the 14th ranked fighter in the top 15, and to win like this, I got a little bit emotional.”

The win over Dunham not only gave Aubin-Mercier a tremendous high, it gave him a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, too. Aubin-Mercier shrugged off the bonus. He said he was obviously happy to receive it, but added, “I don’t use a lot of money” before revealing he would be investing the sum.

Surprisingly, the win over Dunham — the fourth in a row for ‘OAM’ — did not vault the Montrealer into the UFC’s top 15 rankings. Just like his long wait for a TKO, Aubin-Mercier said he doesn’t care about the rankings.

“I really don’t care. I just want to have good fights, that’s it. I mean, my goal for sure is to be champion, but for now I don’t care. I know I’m pretty close to the top 15 or top 10, but like I said, for me, who cares? It’s just a number.”

Someone who did break into the lightweight rankings off his last performance is Aubin-Mercier’s forthcoming opponent: Alex Hernandez (9-1). He is ranked 13th thanks to a crushing KO of Beneil Dariush in his UFC debut in March.

Even though he has just one fight in the UFC, Aubin-Mercier believes Hernandez is more than worthy of his respect. “I think he his a really dangerous guy,” he said. “Maybe his skill set is not his strength, but he looks so strong and so explosive, and a little bit crazy, too. So I think he’s really dangerous. I don’t think, technically, he’s as good as I am, but physically he’s probably better than me. I have to be careful, especially in the first round. I have to be careful because he starts like a lion.”

Aubin-Mericer said Hernandez’s explosive style was hard to replicate with training partners at Tristar. He said he kept switching partners looking for the right mimic. Though he his very happy with his camp overall, and the work put in by his training partners, he admitted he was never quite able to find the perfect match for Hernandez.

The biggest improvement during camp, according to Aubin-Mercier, has been in his development as a striker. He said this has been an ongoing process since before his fight with Thibault Gouti in 2016 (the first of his four fight winning streak). And over that time he has been working with striking coach Levis Labrie.

“Striking was not my strength,” admitted Aubin-Mercier. “So I do a lot of it. And my goal is to be at the top, so I have to be good everywhere. My striking is getting a lot better than before and for sure the KO on Dunham shows it. I’m really happy with the improvements that I’ve made with [Labrie]. I’m undefeated under Levis Labrie for now.”

Thanks to his new found confidence in his striking, Aubin-Mercier was candid in predicting he would finish Hernandez with a third round KO. “I think the first round is going to be a tough one and in the third round I’m going to win,” he said.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier’s fight with Alex Hernandez takes place on the main card of UFC on FOX: Alvarez vs. Poirier 2, which takes place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The main event begins at 8PM ET on FOX.