One of the most competitive fights at UFC Fight Night 116 on Saturday in Pittsburgh should be the bout between Tony Martin and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. These two fighters have combined to go 21-5 in their careers and each is on a winning streak, as Martin has won three in a row, while Aubin-Mercier has won two straight. This bout is one of four preliminary bouts that will be shown on FS1, leading up to a six-fight main card, also on FS1, featuring Luke Rockhold vs. David Branch. Let’s take a look at the bout between Martin and Aubin-Mercier.
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Tony Martin (12-3, 4-3 UFC)
Martin won his first eight fights in his career before he made his UFC debut in 2014 against Rashid Magomedov. Martin lost that bout and he also lost to Beneil Dariush in August of 2014. Martin did bounce back nicely, winning two months later against Fabricio Camoes. Martin lost to Leonardo Santos early in 2015 but he has since won three in a row, defeating Felipe Olivieri, Alex White and Johnny Case.
Martin said that his latest winning streak is due to maturity. “When I started in the UFC, I was still young in this sport,” Martin told MMAWeekly.com. “Now I’ve started to mature as a fighter and have been getting my skillset up to par with this level of talent. I thought it was a process I had to go through. It’s gone great. I feel like I’ve added a lot of new skills. I feel my latest fight with Johnny Case (in June) has showed that. I’ve built up a lot of momentum going into this next fight.”
Martin said that he is doing things the right way now and that his three-fight winning streak is proof of that. Martin said that he has a big advantage when this fight is standing. “I think it’s going to be an exciting fight. I should have a major advantage in the feet, and in the grappling department I feel like I can hang with anybody in the world.”
Olivier Aubin-Mercier (9-2, 5-2 UFC)
Aubin-Mercier won his first four fights before he made his UFC debut on The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia in 2014. He made the final of that event and lost a tough split decision to Chad Laprise. He came back to win five of his next six fights, with wins over Jake Lindsey, David Michaud, Tony Sims, Thibault Gouti and Drew Stober. The only loss came to Carlos Diego Ferreira.
Aubin-Mercier should have the edge if this fight goes to the mat, as he has nine submission wins in his career, seven of which came by RNC. He also has five first round finishes in his career.
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The question in this fight is whether or not Martin can avoid the takedown, because Aubin-Mercier wants this fight to be decided on the mat. I am concerned that Martin is overrating his wrestling ability and that he will get into trouble in this fight against a fighter in Aubin-Mercier who has excellent submission skills. I will take Aubin-Mercier to get the win on Saturday night.
UFC Fight Night 116 takes place on Saturday, September 16 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are six fights on the main card on FS1 featuring Luke Rockhold vs. David Branch beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. There are five fights on the preliminary card, with four on FS1 beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and one on UFC Fight Pass, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Main Card (FS1)
Luke Rockhold vs. David Branch
Mike Perry vs. Thiago Alves
Hector Lombard vs. Anthony Smith
Gregor Gillespie vs. Jason Gonzalez
Kamaru Usman vs. Sergio Moraes
Justin Ledet vs. Zu Anyanwu
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Tony Martin vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Anthony Hamilton vs. Daniel Spitz
Krzysztof Jotko vs. Uriah Hall
Luke Sanders vs. Felipe Arantes
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Jason Saggo vs. Gilbert Burns
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