Stevie Ray is no stranger to his upcoming opponent Olivier-Aubin Mercier as the pair have sparred and rolled with each other in the past.
Ray, 32, competes for the PFL lightweight title against Mercier this Friday in New York with $1million also being on the line in their title clash. ‘Braveheart’ was dangerously close to being eliminated from this year’s PFL campaign after losing his opening fight to Alexander Martinez, but back-to-back wins over former UFC champion Anthony Pettis have landed him a spot in the final.
Mercier, 33, has gone unbeaten in this year’s campaign as the Canadian has won decisions against Natan Schulte, Raush Manfio and Martinez. Ray recalled his previous sparring sessions with fellow UFC veteran Mercier in a recent chat with Mirror Fighting, admitting there wasn’t much to separate the top lightweights.
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“It was back and forth, I remember when we were rolling he submitted me with a kimura and I got with him a rear-naked choke," he said. "In terms of striking, it was fairly equal. There was nothing enough significant enough to take note and it was four years ago as well, so a lot changes with that. You can seen in his fights alone what his style is, he’s strong and is a southpaw like me.”
Mercier has five losses to his name but all of them have come by decision, with Ray admitting it will be a tough task to hand Mercier the first stoppage loss of his career. The Scotsman is confident in his chances of knocking out or submitting Mercier, but he isn't bothered on how he wins as long as he ends up with the $1million cheque and PFL title in his hands.
“He’s never been stopped in his career, he’s only ever been beaten by decision. I’m going to prepare to go all five rounds and to make sure I’m in the best shape ever to do that. I believe I can knock him out and submit him, but it’s hard to predict how these fighters are going to go," Ray added.
"I know exactly what he’s going to do, he’s going to try and attack my lead leg with calf kicks. Throw his left hand and left kick, then probably work the jab a bit more because it’s southpaw against southpaw. We’ll be doing the same thing, it’s just who is going to do it better on the night.”
