Tag: Olivier Aubin-Mercier

2023 PFL 3: Olivier Aubin-Mercier spoils Shane Burgos’ debut, wins unanimous decision

2022 PFL champ Olivier Aubin-Mercier spoiled Shane Burgos’ PFL debut.

[autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] continued his unbeaten run on Friday night.

The 2022 PFL lightweight champion spoiled [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag]’ debut in PFL, as he outpointed him to win a unanimous decision. It was a clean 30-27 across all judges’ scorecard.

The 155-pound bout went down at 2023 PFL 3 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

The first round was pretty evenly contested. Both traded many leg kicks and were also able to connect cleanly with punches. Neither fighter wobbled or stunned the other. However, Aubin-Mercier (18-5) did seem to be a bit more ahead. There was a clean uppercut that connected, that dropped Burgos’ (15-4) mouthpiece. He also seemed to have a bit cleaner shots and his jab was on point.

The second was very similar to the first. They were pretty evenly matched on the feet, with Aubin-Mercier slightly ahead. About halfway through, Aubin-Mercier shot for a takedown and pressed Burgos against the cage. It took a bit for Aubin-Mercier to get the takedown, but he eventually got it. Burgos got right back up, but had his back taken while standing. Aubin-Mercier pretty much controlled Burgos against the cage with little damage until the end of the round.

Aubin-Mercier went immediately back to the ground in the third. He closed the distance and took down Burgos against the cage. Burgos did a great job at defending and would get up numerous times, but Aubin-Mercier kept on him and would drag him back down to the canvas.

Aubin-Mercier controlled Burgos for the majority of the round, but in the final 30 seconds Burgos was able to break free and land heavy combos on Aubin-Mercier, cutting him over the eye. The flurry was not enough to win him the round on the judges’ eyes.

With this win, Aubin-Mercier remains unbeaten since his UFC release in 2019. He’s currently on a seven-fight winning streak – a run that saw him win the 2022 PFL lightweight season and now get a three point start to the 2023 season.

On the other hand, Burgos was unable to start his PFL run on a high note and score points in hopes to make it to the playoffs. The defeat also snapped a two-fight winning streak for Burgos, as he had outpointed Billy Quarantillo and Charles Jourdain in previous outings. Burgos fought out his contract with the UFC and signed with the PFL in late 2022.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 3.

2023 PFL 3 media day videos: Shane Burgos, Clay Collard, Olivier Aubin-Mercier, more

Hear from several of the key fighters who will open their season Friday at 2023 PFL 3 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – The first half of the PFL’s regular season concludes this week with 2023 PFL 3, which features welterweights and lightweights in action for the first time this year.

The event takes place Friday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, with prelims that simultaneously air on ESPN and stream on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET. and a main card that streams on ESPN+ at 9:30 p.m. ET.

On Wednesday, several of the fighters involved took part in PFL 3 media day, which MMA Junkie attended. You can check out each interview below.

UFC veterans in MMA action April 14-15

Check out which UFC veterans are in MMA and boxing action across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC travels to Kansas City, Mo. for UFC on ESPN 44 following UFC 287 in Miami. Former featherweight king [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] takes on [autotag]Arnold Allen[/autotag] in the main event.

Elsewhere, many other MMA events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

This weekend, there are a total of 14 veterans of the global MMA leader competing in MMA and boxing this week from April 14-15.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

Shane Burgos loves that he’s facing Olivier Aubin-Mercier to open 2023 PFL season: ‘It’s a title fight in my eyes’

Shane Burgos sees perks in drawing 2022 PFL lightweight winner Olivier Aubin-Mercier first to start the 2023 PFL season in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] sees perks in drawing 2022 PFL lightweight champion [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] first.

Burgos (15-3) will kick off the regular season against 2022 lightweight winner Aubin-Mercier (17-5) in the 2023 PFL 3 headliner Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

It’s a stern test for Burgos in his PFL debut, but the fan favorite explained why he prefers it this way.

“You can call him the former champion if you want, but I’m looking at him as  the current champion because he won the season and hasn’t lost,” Burgos told MMA Junkie Radio. “He’s on a six-fight win streak. Give me that guy right off the bat – why not? I’m fresh going into it. Give me that one right off the bat. It makes sense to me. I love it.

“People are saying, ‘Why didn’t they put you guys in two separate ends of the bracket?’ Who the f*ck cares? (Anthony) Pettis ended up fighting Stevie Ray twice. You’ve seen guys fight each other twice (in a PFL season), so after I beat him, we might fight again, honestly. I’m looking at it as a title fight. It’s a title fight in my eyes.”

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It’s taken a few UFC alums, including Aubin-Mercier, to get their feet wet before they’ve found success in the PFL. An ex-UFC fighter himself, Burgos will not only be competing in a new home, but in a new weight class after years at featherweight.

“It’s my first time at ’55. It’s my first time fighting in another organization in f*cking years,” Burgos said. “I had 11 pro fights in the UFC – almost my entire career – so I’m not looking at this like it’s going to be an easy run. And I’ve got the guy who won the tournament right off the bat. … For me, I’m looking at this like it’s the hardest fight of my career, and I’m going to treat every fight going forward as that.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2023 PFL 3.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier: ‘Showman’ Shane Burgos won’t win PFL season because he takes too many risks

2022 PFL champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier doesn’t think Shane Burgos has the fighting style to win a title this season.

[autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] has the fighting style to win the PFL season.

2022 lightweight champ Aubin-Mercier will welcome UFC veteran Burgos to the PFL when the pair square off in the 2023 PFL 3 headliner on April 14 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

Aubin-Mercier (17-5) admits a matchup such as Burgos (15-3) makes him nervous but says his fan-favorite style won’t pay off in the PFL.

“Am I scared for Shane Burgos? Yes I am,” Aubin-Mercier told MMA Junkie Radio. “I do not think he’s going to win the tournament. Even though he was the best in the tournament, I do not think he’s gonna win the tournament because he’s too – he takes risks. He’s really a showman.

“He likes to be in traffic, he likes to throw a lot of punches, he’s taking a lot of punches too, and I think in PFL it’s gonna be really hard. I think he’s going to have some difficulties to adjust. I think he’s going to have to change his style a little bit. But with that being said, I’m going to fight the best Shane Burgos out there.”

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On the contrary, Aubin-Mercier’s grappling heavy approach has paid off. He knows it’s not the most exciting, but the 34-year-old Canadian says he’s solely concerned with getting his hand raised.

“My goal is not to be the most entertaining fighter out there,” Aubin-Mercier said. “There’s a lot more people that are willing to do that and sacrifice their health to do that. My goal is to win. I change my style for sure every year, but truly my goal is to win.

“Last year my fight with Manfio wasn’t the most entertaining one. It was probably the most boring fight ever, but my goal was to win this fight, and personally, I don’t mind that. For sure for fans maybe it’s not the best thing, but my goal is to be the best that I can be.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s even hub for 2023 PFL 3.

PFL announces main and co-main events for first three 2023 regular season cards

Brendan Loughnane vs. Marlon Moraes, Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Shane Burgos are among the big fights to open the 2023 PFL season.

The PFL on Thursday announced three headliners and three co-headlining fights for the first three events of the 2023 regular season, which will kick off April 1 and run for three consecutive weeks at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

At 2023 PFL 1 on April 1, reigning featherweight champion [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (26-4) will headline against former UFC title challenger [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] (23-11-1). The co-main event will feature another former UFC title challenger as [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag] (22-11) takes on 2022 light heavyweight champion [autotag]Rob Wilkinson[/autotag] (17-2). The first event of the year is set to air on ESPN.

PFL 2 will take place April 7, headlined by 2022 PFL heavyweight champion [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] (23-5) taking on UFC veteran [autotag]Yorgan De Castro[/autotag] (9-3). The night’s co-main event will feature reigning women’s lightweight champion [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (19-4)  taking on former Bellator champion [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (16-5) in the promotion’s new women’s featherweight division. PFL 2 is set to air on ESPN 2.

Closing out the first half of the regular season with PFL 3 on April 14, the event will be headlined by reigning lightweight champion [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] (17-5) welcoming UFC veteran [autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] (15-3), who was supposed to make his promotional debut last November but withdrew due to injury. The co-main event will pit 2022 welterweight champion [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag] (13-6-2) against [autotag]Jarrah Al-Silawi[/autotag] (18-4). PFL 3 will air on ESPN 2.

Despite the official announcements by PFL, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, which represents Burgos and Loughnane, indicated on Twitter that his fighters had yet to agree to their respective bouts.

The entire lineups for all three events will be announced at a later date.

As in years past, the champions of all six divisions following two regular season bouts and playoffs will claim the title and grand prize of $1 million.

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MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month for November: Chris Gutierrez ends Frankie Edgar’s career

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from November 2022.

With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from November 2022: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for November.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.

2022 PFL Championships medical suspensions: 10 fighters ruled out indefinitely

The 2022 PFL Championships took place Friday in New York, and all 24 fighters on the card received medical suspensions.

The 2022 PFL Championships took place this past Friday at Hulu Theatre in New York and featured six $1 million title fights among other bouts.

Atop the card was a shocking upset, with [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] defeating [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] to claim the women’s lightweight title. Other championship winners included [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag], [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag], [autotag]Sadibou Sy[/autotag], [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag], and Rob [autotag]Wilkinson[/autotag].

On Monday, the New York State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event, released medical suspension durations to MMA Junkie, which show all 24 combatants suspended at least one week – with two fighters out 90 days. MMA Fighting first reported the suspensions.

The NYSAC has a policy against revealing the fighters’ specific injuries to the public.

See below to find out the medical suspension durations for the 2022 PFL Championships combatants. It’s important to note that athletes are allowed to return prior to completion of the suspension if they are cleared earlier by a doctor.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier credits PFL championship to ‘smarter’ training camps after leaving UFC

Olivier Aubin-Mercier admits the PFL season is a stressful grind, but adjusting his training camps prepared him for a title run.

It took some adjusting and stress management, but [autotag]Olivier Aubin-Mercier[/autotag] is now a PFL champion.

At 2022 PFL Championships, Aubin-Mercier (17-5) knocked out Stevie Ray in the second round to become the lightweight champion, capping off the four-fight grind with a title and the $1 million prize. “The Canadian Gangster” admits the year was tough to get through, but he believes it was worth it.

“It’s not necessarily the fights by themself that were hard, it’s really everything around it,” Aubin-Mercier told reporters at the post-fight press conference (via MMA Sucka). “I mean, four fights in a year, even less than a year, maybe nine months. It was insane and right now I feel so proud of this accomplishment and it’s going to stay with me all my life.”

Aubin-Mercier had 13 fights under the UFC banner before joining the PFL in 2021. Since the switch, he made changes to his training such as eliminating sparring, largely due to the hectic PFL schedule which does not allow for much recovery time between fights.

“I think when I was in the UFC, I was training so hard and always trying to push myself to the limit,” Aubin-Mercier said. “I don’t think it’s the right way, actually. I was training until the last week (before a fight), which was crazy. Now, I really take it more easy. Some training are hard, but other are just to get fit or get better. I think that was the big difference, for me to be a little bit smarter about my training camp.”

During fight week, Aubin-Mercier admitted he has entertained the thought of retirement due to the wear and tear from his career and the grind of the PFL season. However, after reaching the championship and claiming the $1 million prize, he may hang around a little longer.

“I’m not f*cking leaving!” Aubin-Mercier joked. “I mean, I hated everything about this week. Like, it was too much stress. … Like I said, it’s four fights in one year. It’s pretty hard on the body, but yeah, I think I can give it one more year.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for 2022 PFL Championships.

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2022 PFL Championships live and official results

Check out the results from the 2022 PFL Championships, where six $1 million champs will be crowned in New York.

The final event of the 2022 PFL season takes place on Friday at Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York, and MMA Junkie will keep you updated with live results throughout the event.

The 2022 PFL Championships event features 12 fights, including all six divisional finals for a $1 million grand prize.

In the main event, undefeated two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] (15-0) goes for a title three-peat at women’s lightweight when she clashes with [autotag]Larissa Pacheco[/autotag] (18-4), whom Harrison has already defeated twice before.

The co-headliner will see [autotag]Brendan Loughnane[/autotag] (24-4) and [autotag]Bubba Jenkins[/autotag] (19-5) clash for the featherweight championship, while elsewhere on the card [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] (9-3) makes her promotional debut vs. former Bellator titleholder [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag] (16-4) at women’s featherweight, plus much more.

Full results of 2022 PFL Championship include: