30-year-old Olivier Aubin-Mercier, who with two straight losses has lost his status among the top lightweight rankings, entered Saturday in desperate need of a win. His opponent: 22-year-old Arman Tsarukyan, a rising up-and-comer who had won 12 of his last 13 fights. The two lightweight fighters couldn't have entered UFC 240 in more opposite points in their career.
Aubin-Mercier opened the fighter pretty aggressive, but it didn't take long for Tsarukyan to time his kicks, eventually catching one which forced Aubin-Mercier to crawl towards the fence. This would be the story of the fight, as Tsarukyan showed excellent defense and wrestling ability throughout all three rounds.
Neither fighter made any major mistakes, with the hardest shot of the match coming in the second round when Aubin-Mercier caught Tsarukyan with a knee. No major noticable damage was done, however, and Tsarukyan ended the round with increased volume.
If there was any doubt heading into the third round, Tsarukyan put it to rest with his best round of the fight. He scored a clean takedown of Aubin-Mercier and stayed heavy, landing some pretty powerful elbows and hammerfists.
It was a disappointing loss for Aubin-Mercier, who was fighting in front of his hometown crowd in Canada. Arman Tsarukyan has now won 13 of his last 14 fights, so it should be interesting to see if he can crack the rankings in a deep lightweight division.