Ateba Gautier will return to action later this month, and an Oktagon MMA two-division champion who spars with the surging UFC middleweight has weighed in on that bout.
Gautier clashes with Andrey Pulyaev at UFC 324 on January 24th, and Will Fleury has weighed in on the middleweight matchup. Fleury has aspirations to become a three-division champion, with light heavyweight and heavyweight belts in Oktagon MMA. Speaking to those broader legacy-related goals for 185 pound hardware and referencing his work with the UFC middleweight, Fleury said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Well, look, I was sparring with Ateba Gautier over in Manchester a couple of weeks ago and Ateba was 104 kilo and I was 106. He’s going to fight middleweight at the end of January. So, like I wouldn’t be planning on fighting middleweight anywhere near that quickly. But it shows me that look, if you’re willing to put in the work, this is definitely possible. But like you said, right now, number one goal, beat Martin Buday on December 28th.”
Ateba Gautier is “just gonna go on a tear,” says Will Fleury
Fleury did in fact go on to dispatch the ex-Oktagon MMA champ and former UFC vet with a winning octagon record in Martin Buday to close out 2025. Redirecting the focus to how he sees his sparring partner Gautier doing in this UFC 324 clash though, Fleury stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah. I watched a bit of the other guy just because we were sparring a good bit together that week and he keeps his head very high. Ateba, he said; man, Ateba is really good. Like considering he’s not in the sport that long he’s [a] very smart fighter you know. Like you notice the second time you spar him, he’ll have read things from the first time. Like he’s a sharp guy, he’s smart.”
“It’s very hard to like fully trick him into things and especially for a guy who’s like newer to the sport. I really think he’s just gonna go on a tear. Like I feel like he’ll knock that guy out in the first round. But even after that, it’s hard to see with the physical specimen that he is and with the level of preparation and thought process that he puts around it.”
“Even like having Carl Prince as a coach, sky’s the limit for that guy, man. You know, I really think he could be a champion within the next two or three years. It’s just like it depends on the path that he gets to get there. But with the right path and like with the right timing and the right fight, the guy could easily be a champion in the next two or three years.”