Olivier Aubin-Mercier: PFL title money would surpass earnings of 12-fight UFC career

Olivier Aubin-Mercier’s stay with the UFC lasted more than five years, but after signing with PFL as a free agent, the Canadian is excited to experience something new.

PFL is on the other end of the spectrum from how UFC operates. From its format of a point-based season leading into playoffs and ultimately a championship, to the lofty $1 million payout for the winner in each weight class, Aubin-Mercier (11-5) said he’s thrilled to join the promotion’s 2020 lightweight season.

“I was pretty excited (to sign with PFL),” Aubin-Mercier told MMA Junkie. “I like the concept of PFL, and I think it’s pretty cool. It may be the future in the sense that it could be a big promotion to be a competition against the UFC. It’s two different concepts. People are going to be really interested in it because you have to follow your athlete through the season. It’s a really nice concept – a little bit like hockey here in Canada.”

For Aubin-Mercier, the shift to PFL offers a bright light after a dark time in his career. After making it to the UFC as a runner-up on “The Ultimate Fighter: Nations,” Aubin-Mercier had a largely positive run inside the octagon. He put together a stretch of seven wins in eight fights but then ran into a wall of three consecutive losses, the last of which marked the final fight on his contract.

In late 2019, Aubin-Mercier revealed to MMA Junkie that the UFC had not expressed interest in bringing him back, and he was surveying his potential options. He said PFL came into the fold earlier this year, and the upside was too hard to resist.

According to Aubin-Mercier, the potential money to be made with PFL in a single season outweighs what he made in the UFC over 12 fights. However, the payday is only half his incentive.

“I have two motivations: I have the million dollars – that’s really nice, it’s a game-changer,” Aubin-Mercier said. “The sweet U.S. (dollars) – it’s more money than I’ve made from all my fights in the UFC, so that’s a pretty big deal. Then the other motivation is to be in the final. This year, they did the poster for the fights, like the artistic poster for each fighter in the final, and I really, really liked it last year. I would like that for me.”

With Aubin-Mercier’s PFL debut tentatively slated for early June (though the ongoing coronavirus crisis could potentially lead to a schedule adjustment), he said the focus is to prepare mentally and physically for what’s to come.

“I think it’s going to be a big challenge to fight twice in one night,” Aubin-Mercier said. “I’m ready to do it. It’s always interesting for an athlete to do something different. It’s really raw. It’s kind of old-school MMA with the new-school mixed in, too. I could fight five times in six months – that’s really interesting.”