PFL 4 at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, June 17, 2022. (Cooper Neill / PFL)
Olivier Aubin-Mercier upsets 2021 champion Raush Manfio at PFL 4
The Professional Fighters League returns to us tonight, June 17, 2022, for PFL 4, going down live from the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, to showcase their lightweight and light-heavyweight divisions.
Headlining the event is a lightweight bout between UFC veteran Clay Collard and Alexander Martinez, both of which have gone 1-0 thus far into the 2022 season.
Our feature fight of the night came in the lightweight division between 2021 PFL lightweight champion Raush Manfio and UFC veteran Olivier Aubin-Mercier.
Manfio, a former Titan FC champion as well, has gone 5-0 since coming to PFL, while Mercier has gone 3-0 since coming over to PFL from the UFC.
Continue reading to see how this epic Brazil versus Canada showdown went down:
Official Result: Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Raush Manfio via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
The first round comes and goes without much action, each man landing a handful of body kicks throughout the round. There isn’t much more happening in the second either, neither man is handing out much offense.
Mercier is controlling the center of the octagon, trying to set up a takedown shot, or so it’d appear. He hasn’t shot on any though, and isn’t striking often. Neither is Manfio, each are doing just enough to not be warned for inactivity.
One could think Mercier is up going into the third just on cage control alone, but really it would be hard to say.
Manfio comes out a little more aggressive in the third but to no avail, as Mercier finally shoots on a takedown attempt. He’s unable to secure it. They were both about ten percent more active in the third, and this is the one clear round that had a winner. It was Mercier.
Boring or not, Olivier Aubin-Mercier is a problem in PFL’s lightweight division. He left the UFC after suffering three-straight defeats, the latter two to Gilbert Burns and Arman Tsarukyan, bringing his record to 11-5. Tonight he improved it to 15-5, defeating his second-straight PFL champion in a row (Natan Schulte).
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