Aubin-Mercier easily out-grapples Tony Sims at UFC Fight Night 74

Takedown. Grapple. Rinse. Repeat. Takedown. Grapple. Rinse. Repeat.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier used this strategy beautifully at UFC Fight Night 74 on Sunday night, easily outpointing Tony Sims en route to an easy unanimous decision victory.

Uninterested in testing Sims' boxing early, Aubin-Mercier, a grappling wizard, quickly used a double-leg to drag the bout to the floor, and after a brief scramble, elevated Sims and sent him crashing to the canvas with a gigantic slam.

From there, the Canadian locked in a body triangle and worked for a rear-naked choke, but Sims was able to hand-fight, gut it out, and survive the opening round.

Sims showed improved takedown defense to open the second stanza, but was still controlled for long stretches by Aubin-Mercier's suffocating, blanket-like grappling game.

Early in the final frame, Sims unleashed his most effective offense of the bout, landing a steady stream of punches and hammerfists on a failed takedown by Aubin-Mercier.

Alas, Sims' burst of violence was short and largely ineffective, as an undaunted Aubin-Mercier easily took the fight back over and worked for a rear-naked choke until the final bell rang.