After yet another submission win, Olivier Aubin-Mercier wants fellow tap fiend Andrew Holbrook

TORONTO – Olivier Aubin-Mercier had some moments of tough sledding against Drew Dober on Saturday night, but once things were back in his wheelhouse it was more of the same.

Aubin-Mercier (9-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) got Dober (17-8 MMA, 3-4 UFC) to tap to a rear-naked choke in the second round of their lightweight fight on the UFC 206 preliminary card. It was Aubin-Mercier’s seventh rear-naked choke finish in nine wins.

Now he’s thinking about testing himself against another submission specialist: Andrew Holbrook, who pulled off a big upset of Jake Matthews in Matthews’ home country of Australia in November at UFC Fight Night 101.

Holbrook took a split decision in that fight to get back in the win column after a knockout loss to Joaquim Silva in July. Before that, his UFC debut was another upset – a split call over Ramsey Nijem. But before that, Holbrook’s resume was filled with submissions – nine in his first 10 wins.

“I don’t watch a lot of MMA, but the last fight I watched was Jake Matthews against Holbrook,” Aubin-Mercier said after UFC 206. “And Holbrook is the only nightmare in my mind since that was the only fight I’ve watched – that, and Conor McGregor, and I think I would be really stupid to call out Conor McGregor. … I just like his style. It’s a style I want to compete against.”

UFC 206 took place Saturday at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Aubin-Mercier’s win came in front of his home country, but it wasn’t without some tense moments. Scrappy muay Thai standout Dober gave him some trouble.

“The guy is like Rocky Balboa,” Aubin-Mercier said. “He almost knocked me out in the second round, actually. I woke up on the ground and saw him coming at me and was like, ‘Whoa – I have to do something now.'”

That something was working around to take Dober’s back, and the finish came soon after. Now Aubin-Mercier will wait to find out if he can test himself against Holbrook, as requested.

Check out the video above for more from Aubin-Mercier after his win over Dober, including his relationship with Georges St-Pierre.

And for complete coverage of UFC 206, check out the UFC Events section of MMAjunkie.