MMA: Gautier Ateba’s Ascent Halted

I t took just three minutes and 12 se­ conds for Russian veteran Roman Ko­ pylov to defeat Cameroon’s rising MMA star Gautier Ateba, who had ente­ red the fight on a five-fight unbeaten streak in the Ultimate Fighting Cham­ pionship (UFC). The UFC 332 middle­ weight bout, which headlined the ope­ ning main card at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, United States, proved to be more than Ateba could handle. Kopylov picked his shots, scored a knockdown, and then swarmed Ateba to finish the contest by technical knockout (TKO) in the first round. During the finishing se­ quence, Kopylov manoeuvred Ateba into overextending, landed a crisp straight left, floored him with a follow-up one- two, and completed the stoppage with ground-and-pound strikes. Coming into 2026, the 24-year-old Gau­ tier Ateba, with nickname “The Storm”, sat the top most “Prospects to Watch” lists after posting three consecutive first-round stoppage victories in his roo­ kie campaign. The run earned him the sil­ ver-medal position in the UFC.com Year- End Awards. The fight against Russian veteran Ro­ man Kopylov repre...