Summary
Ateba Gautier in victory in the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.
One of the most promising MMA fighters today, Ateba Gautier wrote another impressive chapter in his career this Saturday (24), by winning Andrey Pulyaev by unanimous decision in the penultimate preliminary fight of the UFC, in a duel valid for the middleweight category (up to 83,9 kg). The new Francis NgannouAt just 23 years old, he now has ten professional wins, four of which were in the world's largest MMA organization.
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Gautier was the aggressor throughout the entire fight.
Dominating physically, the Cameroonian showed great aggression from the start of the fight. He took his opponent down with the first straight punch in the opening seconds. He remained the aggressor in the following moments, but Pulyaev maintained his composure and recovered as time went on. From then on, the Russian successfully landed strong kicks to the midsection and right-handed crosses, clearly frustrating the African's aggression.
Despite a bleeding nose and a slower pace, Gautier remained the aggressor in the second round of the fight. Although he absorbed some heavy blows from his opponent, the Cameroonian undoubtedly caused more damage by cornering his opponent against the cage and stunning him twice with punches and knees in the Muay Thai clinch.
The course of the fight remained the same in the final round. Despite advancing and trying to corner his opponent for most of the time, Gautier couldn't hurt Pulyaev enough to end the fight. The Russian, on the other hand, remained calm, showing good movement and great skill with kicks to the midsection.
At the end of the 15 minutes of combat, Ateba Gautier He was declared the winner by unanimous decision. Two judges scored it 29-28, while the third judge scored all rounds in his favor.
Ukrainian knocks out rival in the dying moments.
Nikita Krylov in victory in UFC 324. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.
In a duel between veterans, Nikita Krylov broke the streak of two negative results by winning Modest Bukauskas by technical knockout in the third round, in a duel valid for the light heavyweight category (up to 93 kg). In this way, the Ukrainian successfully defended his thirteenth position in the division's ranking, while the Lithuanian suffered his first defeat since 2023, when he was defeated by... Victor Petrino.
Clearly comfortable in the octagon, Bukauskas landed strong straight punches to his opponent's chin, taking advantage of kicks to the midsection to connect. After attempting a takedown for a few minutes, Krylov returned to fighting on his feet and successfully landed good punches from long range. He even managed to hurt the Lithuanian in the final seconds of the round.
The situation repeated itself in the second round, but changed completely in the final part of the fight. Feeling the need to finish the job to win, Bukauskas went on the offensive and ended up being hit by a powerful overhand right, taking him to the ground and sealing the defeat by technical knockout in the final seconds of the third round.
Deiveson Figueiredo's former rival wins by knockout.
Alex Perez in victory against Charles Johnson. Photo: Reproduction/X.
Also on the preliminary card, Alex Perez won Charles Johnson with a beautiful knockout in the first round, in a duel valid for the flyweight category (up to 56,7 kg). With the result, the former title challenger erased the bad impression for not making weight last Friday (23) and reached his eighth victory in the biggest MMA organization in the world, in addition to breaking a sequence of two defeats.
Perez dominated the center of the octagon from the start of the fight and tried to attack his opponent with combinations of crosses and leg kicks. In contrast, Johnson adopted a defensive stance and tried to counter-attack his opponent at the right moments.
However, Perez managed to land a powerful left cross that sent Johnson to the ground. From there, he spent the next few minutes hunting his opponent and landing heavy punches on the resilient adversary.
The fight ended when the former title challenger landed another cross with his left hand, causing Johnson to fall face-first onto the mat, forcing referee Jason Herzog to stop the fight when the clock showed three minutes and 16 seconds.
Check out the results of UFC 324
Main Card
Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Justin gaethje derrotou Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) – fight for the interim belt
Bantamweight (up to 61,2 kg): Sean O'Malley defeated song yadong by unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Heavy weight (up to 120,2 kg): Waldo Cortes Acosta derrotou Derrick Lewis by technical knockout (punches) at 3min15sec of R2
Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Natalia Silva derrotou Rose namajunas by unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Jean Silva derrotou arnold allen by unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Bantam weight (up to 61,2 kg): Umar Nurmagomedov derrotou Deiveson Figueiredo by unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Ateba Gautier derrotou Andrey Pulyaev by unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Light heavyweight (up to 92,9 kg): Nikita Krylov derrotou Modest Bukauskas by knockout (punches) at 4min57sec of R3
Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Alex Perez derrotou Charles Johnson by knockout (punch) at 3min16sec of R1
Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Michael Johnson x Alexander Hernandez – fight canceled
Heavyweight (up to 120,2 kg): Josh Hokit defeated Denzel Freeman by technical knockout (punches and knees) at 4:59 of round 1
Bantam weight (up to 61,2 kg): Ricky Turcios x Cameron Smotherman – fight canceled
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Ty Miller defeated Adam Fugitt by technical knockout (punches) at 4min59sec of R1
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