Promising middleweight prospect Ateba Gautier earned his second-straight knockout finish earlier tonight (Sat., July 19, 2025) at UFC 318 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La., viciously stopping Robert Valentin just 70 seconds into the fight.
Gautier came into Saturday night a heavy betting favorite after coming off a sensational knockout on the Contender Series and a UFC debut finish back in March. He’s a young, powerful, and very dangerous striker, but still relatively unproven in his young MMA career. A spot on the UFC 318 undercard was a perfect way for Gautier to start earning his stripes and have a chance to earn a highlight-reel finish.
That’s exactly what happened as Gautier hurt Valentin early and had him backpedaling around the cage. Gautier quickly rushed in to land a brutal uppercut followed by a right hand that sent Valentin falling to the canvas. A few more punches from Gautier and the referee was forced to step in with just 70 seconds off the clock.
Check out the video highlights below:
LIVE! Watch UFC 318 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
LEGENDARY TRILOGY / BMF SHOWDOWN! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., July 19, 2025, with a thrilling trilogy set to headline UFC 318 from inside Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. In UFC 318’s PPV main event, Max Holloway defends his BMF title against former interim Lightweight champion (and No. 3-ranked contender), Dustin Poirier, in a high-stakes, five-round clash that will mark the final fight for “The Diamond” before he retires from the sport. UFC 318’s PPV co-main event features Middleweight contenders Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov in a pivotal 185-pound bout rescheduled from UFC 317. UFC 318 will also showcase a Welterweight clash between Kevin Holland vs. Daniel Rodriguez, a Featherweight showdown pitting Dan Ige vs. Patricio Pitbull, a Lightweight bout featuring Michael Johnson vs. Daniel Zellhuber and much more! UFC 318’s start time is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET (“Early Prelims”), 8 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).
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