Ateba Gautier isn’t losing any sleep over Baisangur Susurkaev publicly brushing him off as an easy night ahead of UFC 328.
Gautier, 10-1 in MMA and 4-0 in the UFC, is set for a featured prelim against Ozzy Diaz (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 328, which takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Earlier on the same card, Susurkaev (11-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) meets Djorden Santos (11-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
Responding to Susurkaev’s criticism of his style and the “easy” label, Gautier pushed back on the talk. “How can it bother me? It's just a word,” he said. He added, “If you say something, I don't care – it doesn't affect me. But to say 'easy money,' I mean, 'easy money' could be like you'll be in the hospital, maybe like a heart attack, concussion and stuff like that. They say 'easy money,' just show up. Anyway, it's fine. It's fine, still.”
Gautier made it clear he keeps tabs on everyone in his weight class and would welcome a matchup with Susurkaev if it comes. “As a fighter, I pay attention to every middleweight fighter in my division,” Gautier said. “Pay attention to him particularly? No, but the same attention I give to him is the same I give to everybody else. So if we have to fight, let's fight. We're happy. That's what we like, so it's fine as well.”
