Ateba Gautier will compete at UFC 320 after all.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Gautier now faces promotional newcomer Treston Vines at Saturday’s
pay-per-view event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Vines’ management team Iridium Sports first announced the bout on Twitter.
The new opponent steps in for Ozzy Diaz, who was originally slated to face Gautier before an undisclosed medical issue forced Diaz out of the bout.
Vines, 29, makes his octagon debut, and does so on a four-fight win streak. The Alabama native finished his past three opponents inside of two rounds, including a first-round knockout victory in his most recent bout in August for Alabama Fighting Championship.
Gautier makes his third walk to the UFC’s octagon, and does so with a lot of hype behind him. After earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, Gautier finished both of his UFC opponents in the first round, including a 70 second knockout of Robert Valentin at July’s UFC 318 event.
UFC 320 is headlined by a light heavyweight championship rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira, while Merab Dvalishvili puts his bantamweight title on the line against Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event.
