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Olivier Aubin-Mercier has been doing well for himself inside the cage. But his call-out game might need a little work.

After snagging a third straight win with a split decision over Tony Martin  (12-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 116, Aubin-Mercier (10-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) asked, rather politely, for a meeting with Brazilian grappling expert Charles Oliveira. Backstage, “The Quebec Kid” elaborated on the request and explored some other options.

But, as Aubin-Mercier himself will admit, that isn’t the area of the MMA game in which he’s most comfortable.

“I’m not sure who I want,” Mercier said after the lightweight scrap. “I said Charles Oliveira. I knew it was kind of a crazy callout, but why not? Unfortunately, I don’t really watch a lot of UFC. So I don’t know a lot of people in my category. I know who they are, but I don’t know the names.

“I know the last guy who beat (Lando) Vannata. I think he’s a Sweden guy; it would be a good fight (David Teymur). There’s another judo guy in my category. I think it’s Nick (Hein), or something like this – I’m not sure about his name.”

The matchup with Oliveira isn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility, as the Brazilian, who most recently beat Will Brooks, remains unbooked. But, despite repeated failures make the 145-limit in the past, Oliveira has expressed his desire to return to featherweight. Teymur and Hein, both coming off wins, are also unbooked.

As for his other octagon request, to fight at UFC on FOX 26 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Aubin-Mercier says he’s still got some things to discuss before committing. But, having just returned from a nine-month layoff that dates back to a UFC 206 win over Drew Dober, he would like to get booked before year’s end.

“I just fought once this year,” Aubin-Mercier said. “(I) had a little bit of rust in there, so I would like to fight one more time. I would like to make a little bit more money, since I have my taxes to pay.”

Aubin-Mercier applies the same honesty to discussing Saturday’s encounter, which aired live on FS1 from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Fact is, though the win was most certainly welcome, he would have preferred a clearer result.

“I would have liked it to be a little bit more one-sided,” Aubin-Mercier said.

As the four octagon opponents who he finished that way can confirm, Aubin-Mercier is usually the one chasing submissions in the cage. But, with Martin, he saw himself having to escape a few unfavorable situations in the third round.

While he was the clear loser of the final frame, Aubin-Mercier says he was not quite in danger of being finished. In fact, he was even chatting with his competition throughout.

“I’m like, ‘Come on, Tony. You can do it. Let’s do it,’” Aubin-Mercier said. “I knew it would have been hard for him. I’m from judo, so for I don’t know how many years I was just defending the back control.

“For me, it was easy to defend. Maybe I got a little bit cocky there. Cocky in a bad way, because I should have been on top in the third round.”

On the one hand, Aubin-Mercier thinks he made the fight harder than it needed to be. But, on the other, there’s something to be said for lessons learned.

“I did a mistake,” Aubin-Mercier said. “I tried to go maybe a little bit too much for the takedown, and I hurried a bit too much to get up and fight him on the feet. I did two big mistakes in that round and I paid for it. I mean, it’s a good experience.”

To hear from Aubin-Mercier, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Fight 116, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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