Olivier Aubin-Mercier might be coming off a rare loss in his last performance, but he has never felt better about the direction of his career.
That's because Aubin-Mercier (11-3) believes he's figuring things out -- in and out of the cage. The 29-year-old lightweight has been in the UFC for a while now -- he'll hit five years in April -- and has compiled an impressive 7-3 record. He'll face Gilbert Burns (13-3) on Saturday at UFC 231 in Toronto.
There were times (pretty recently, actually) when Aubin-Mercier didn't feel great about his career. It felt stagnant. He was winning his share of fights, but his profile wasn't growing, and no fight really felt bigger than the last.
But after collecting a fight night bonus for a first-round knockout over Evan Dunham this past April, and creating an online persona of a "Canadian Gangster," Aubin-Mercier believes his status is finally in a better place.
"This last year -- the Evan Dunham fight and the 'Canadian Gangster' -- I think I needed a little push, and this has been my push," said Aubin-Mercier, who is from Montreal. "I won't lie, if you had asked me three fights ago, I would have told you I felt like I was running in place. But right now, I feel I am going forward.
"Any lightweight in the top 20 can win on any given night. I think Khabib Nurmagomedov is a step ahead of a lot of people, but other than that, anybody can beat anybody. With that being said, there is a top tier of people who are more popular, who get the better fights. I haven't been there yet. A guy like Paul Felder was able to get there. James Vick, that's what he was saying he was missing. I need a little more recognition and I'll get there."
For the most part, Aubin-Mercier's results inside the Octagon speak for themselves. He has recorded finishes in five of his seven wins, and orchestrated a four-fight win streak before dropping a unanimous decision to Alexander Hernandez in August.
The biggest issue for Aubin-Mercier in that fight was his energy level, as he says he felt tired as early as the first round. Between fights, he visited the UFC's Performance Institute to focus on nutrition and "peaking" out of camp -- finding that balance that optimizes his energy on fight night.
Saturday's matchup almost feels like a rematch going in. Aubin-Mercier and Burns were scheduled to fight this past February, but the UFC pulled Burns the week of the bout because of concerns around his weight cut.
Aubin-Mercier says he initially had no interest in rebooking the fight but didn't feel he was in a place to voice that opinion coming off a loss. A win Saturday would be another step in his effort to hit that upper tier.
"I knew if I won that last fight, s--- was going to get down," Aubin-Mercier said. "I was looking forward to it, but sometimes you have to lose one to win more and learn more about yourself. That's what I'm trying to do right now, turn that negative into a positive."