UFC middleweight prospect Ateba Gautier was the betting favorite against Roman Kopylov heading into UFC 332 last weekend in Salt Lake City and for good reason. Gautier, 24, was 5-0 under the UFC banner with four brutal knockouts and carried significant advantages in both height and reach.
I guess Kopylov didn’t get the memo.
The Russian bruiser flattened Gautier in the opening round of their main card matchup, snapping a 10-fight win streak and handing “The Silent Assassin” the first loss of his UFC
career. Fortunately, it sounds like Gautier is ready to learn from his defeat and come back stronger.
“Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that I’m doing well, especially to everyone who has been worried about me and has been sending me messages since last night,” Gautier wrote on Instagram. “Last night simply wasn’t our night. All credit to my opponent. He was better than me last night, and I respect that. Of course, I’m disappointed. I wanted to win, as always. But that’s also part of our sport. There are days when everything goes your way, and there are days when things don’t go the way you imagined.”
Judging by the negative comments on social media, the only haters are the bettors who saw their parlays go bust when Kopylov scored the bookie-busting upset.
“I fell, yes. But I’m going to get back up,” Gautier (11-2) continued. “And I’m going to start again as many times as it takes until I reach the goal I’ve set for myself. A sincere thank you to everyone who has been sending me messages of support and motivation. I read your messages, even though I can’t reply to everyone, and believe me, they mean a lot to me. As they say in our sport: sometimes you make the highlights… and sometimes you ARE the highlight. And thank you to those who are celebrating my loss. I don’t hold it against you. Everyone is free to feel however they feel. I’ll simply use all of this as motivation to keep working.”
Kopylov, 34, improved to 16-5 with the victory and has now won two straight.
