Ateba Gautier used his latest UFC victory to aim straight at a former champion, calling out Israel Adesanya after a knockout win at UFC 328.
Gautier improved his record to 11-1 in MMA and 5-0 in the UFC with a Round 2 KO of Ozzy Diaz in their featured middleweight prelim at UFC 328, which took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
In his post-fight octagon interview, Gautier turned his attention to former UFC middleweight champion Adesanya. “I admire him a lot,” Gautier said, later adding, “He's a good fighter. He's a very, very good quality fighter. He's an African brother. I want to face him because I really admire him.”
Gautier made it clear the callout comes from respect as much as ambition. “Never met him, but I want to meet him in the cage. He's more than famous in Africa. More than famous. Everybody knows him. If you fight in Africa and you don't know Adesanya, you don't know what a fight is. As a fighter, everybody knows him.”
Earlier on the same card, Susurkaev moved to 12-0 in MMA and 3-0 in the UFC by finishing Djorden Santos, but Gautier dismissed any need to lean on another contender’s name. “Let's go step-by-step. Susurkaev says I'm not (famous). Who knows him?” Gautier said. “Who knows him? For what? Who knows him? Nobody. I build my name myself, not behind some other peoples' names – myself, alone, with my team.”
