Joe Rogan sees big things for a UFC middleweight prospect.
Ateba Gautier, a 23-year-old Cameroonian powerhouse, burst onto the UFC scene with a finish of Yura Naito on Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2024. He followed that up with three-straight first-round knockouts over Jose Medina, Robert Valentin, and most recently Treston Vines in the span of seven months.
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Rogan told guest Shane Gillis about former UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena when he was on the rise, and now he’s very high on Gautier (9-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC).
“Ateba Gautier, this guy is from Cameroon,” Rogan said in a recent episode of his “Joe Rogan Experience.” “Oh, he’s f*cking terrifying. He’s 185 pounds, 6’4,’ built like a Greek God, smokes everybody. Everybody just gets smoked. Terrifying power, super speed, excellent technique, everything. He’s good, man. He’s good. Super f*cking strong, too. Very big for the weight class and awesome striking. … That guy’s the future. He’s the future.”
Gautier will look to continue his rise up the middleweight ranks when he takes on Andrey Pulyaev (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (Paramount+).
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joe Rogan raves about ‘f*cking terrifying’ Ateba Gautier
