Olivier Aubin-Mercier gets a home country fight at UFC 231, when he faces Gilbert Burns in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The duo of Aubin-Mercier and Burns were supposed to meet before in the UFC and that bout was canceled, but Aubin-Mercier hopes Burns doesn’t make the same mistakes that canned the first planned encounter.
“I was not in a good spot to tell the UFC which match up would be good for me, so there was no hesitation…but I was scared and I’m still scared about that fight because, like I said last time…it didn’t happen because he was too big in the beginning of the week. I mean, to be fair to him, he never missed weight in the UFC. (He did) miss weight outside of the UFC in grappling (matches), but never in the UFC. To be fair, I think he’s gonna be ready this time and I hope he won’t make the same mistake he made last time,” says Aubin-Mercier in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Aubin-Mercier and Burns are both in need of a win in this bout, as both competitors suffered defeats in their fights before UFC 231.
A big highlight from the UFC On Fox 30 media day was Aubin-Mercier being flanked by two bodyguards, who could be coming back in the lead up to UFC 231.
“Yeah, we’re gonna see…why not? I think they could be useful this time, they can do anything,” says Aubin-Mercier.
UFC 231 takes place on Saturday, December 8 from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with Max Holloway and Brian Ortega headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
