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Points will be at a premium when prospective lightweights
Raush
Manfio and
Olivier
Aubin-Mercier restart their respective
Professional Fighters League campaigns in a featured
PFL 4 attraction on Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta.
Neither man can afford a misstep at this stage of the season.
Manfio, the promotion’s reigning champion at 155 pounds, finds
himself in the midst of a career-best five-fight winning streak.
The
American Top Team export deposited four points in his 2022
account with a third-round technical knockout of
Don Madge in
April. Aubin-Mercier, meanwhile, has rattled off three consecutive
victories. The
Tristar Gym product pocketed three points with a split decision
over
Natan
Schulte at PFL 1 on April 20.
As Manfio and Aubin-Mercier make final preparations for their
pivotal clash in the lightweight division, a look at some of the
numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
30: Years of age for Manfio, who was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil,
on Nov. 3, 1991.
8: Manfio victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting
for 50% of his career total (16). His list of victims includes the
aforementioned Madge,
Chazz
Walton and
Demarques
Jackson. Manfio holds eight other victories by decision, two of
the split-scorecards variety.
224: Days spent by Manfio as
Titan Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder. He laid
claim to the crown with a first-round knockout of Walton at Titan
46 on Nov. 17, 2017, made one successful defense with a five-round
unanimous decision over
Lee Henry
Lilly at Titan 48 on Feb. 16, 2018, then surrendered it when he
was outpointed by
Sidney
Outlaw at Titan 50 on June 29, 2018.
46: Professional rounds completed by Manfio as a mixed martial
artist. He has gone the distance on 11 different occasions and
carries an 8-3 record in those bouts.
.766: Cumulative winning percentage between the three
opponents—
Sidney
Outlaw,
Matt
Frevola and
Fernando
dos Santos—who have defeated Manfio. The trio sports a combined
record of 36-10-1.
33: Years of age for Aubin-Mercier, who was born on Feb. 23, 1989
in Montreal.
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8: Aubin-Mercier wins by submission, accounting for 57% of
his career total (14). His methods of choice: seven rear-naked
chokes and one inverted triangle kimura. Aubin-Mercier owns one
other win by knockout or technical knockout—he put away
Evan Dunham
with a knee strike and follow-up punches at UFC 223 in 2018—and
five more by decision.
58: Seconds needed for Aubin-Mercier to submit Guy Polin with a
rear-naked choke in his pro debut at Ringside MMA 12 on Oct. 21,
2011. It remained the fastest finish on his resume until he waylaid
Dunham in 53 seconds six-plus years later.
5: Organizations in which Aubin-Mercier has competed as a mixed
martial artist. He has gone 7-5 in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, 3-0 in the PFL, 2-0 in Ringside
MMA, 1-0 in Slamm and 1-0 in Challenge MMA.
81: Combined victories between the five opponents—
Arman
Tsarukyan,
Gilbert
Burns,
Alexander
Hernandez,
Diego
Ferreira and
Chad
Laprise—who have beaten Aubin-Mercier. They boast a cumulative
.794 winning percentage (81-21).