Anthony Romero now gets his chance to knock a crown off a king.
“The Genius” will take on defending Professional Fighters League lightweight championship Olivier Aubin-Mercier when they headline PFL 6 this Friday at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. Romero enters the cage on the strength of a three-fight winning streak. He last competed on the PFL Challenger Series in February, when he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Antonio Caruso across three rounds. Aubin-Mercier, meanwhile, has rattled off seven consecutive victories. The Tristar Gym rep last fought on April 14, when he outpointed Shange Burgos to a unanimous verdict at PFL 3.
As Romero and Aubin-Mercier make final preparations in advance of their forthcoming battle at 155 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
26: Years of age for Romero, who was born on Feb. 25, 1997 in Welland, Ontario.
3: Romero wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 25% of his career total (12). His list of victims: Kenn Glenn, Jacob Miller and Juan Roman. Romero owns one other win by submission (8%)—he dispatched Elijah Harris with a third-round rear-naked choke under the King of the Cage flag in 2018—and eight more by decision (67%).
58: Seconds needed for Romero to punch out Miller at Ohio Combat League 7 on March 7, 2020. More than three years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
7: Consecutive calendar years in which Romero has fought at least once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2023, he went 1-0 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018, 2-0 in 2019, 3-0 in 2020, 1-1 in 2021 and 1-0 in 2022.
30: Combined victories between the opponents—Caruso, Glenn and Nico Echeverry—Romero has beaten during his current three-fight winning streak. They sport a cumulative .625 winning percentage at 30-18.
34: Years of age for Aubin-Mercier, who was born in Montreal on Feb. 23, 1989.
8: Aubin-Mercier victories by submission, accounting for 44% of his career total (18). His methods of choice: seven rear-naked chokes and one inverted triangle kimura. Aubin-Mercier holds two other victories by knockout or technical knockout (12%) and eight more by decision (44%).
1,427: Days since Aubin-Mercier last tasted defeat. He dropped a unanimous decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 240 on July 27, 2019.
46: Rounds completed by Aubin-Mercier as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 13 different occasions and carries an 8-5 record in those bouts.
.750: Cumulative winning percentage between the opponents—Burgos, Steven Ray, Alex Martinez, Raush Manfio, Natan Schulte, Darrell Horcher and Marcin Held—Aubin-Mercier has defeated during his current run of seven straight victories. They boast a combined record of 133-44-1.
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