UFC 324: Ateba Gautier on cats, Michael Jackson and knockouts

At the age of 19 Gautier moved more than 3,500 miles to Manchester from Cameroon.

He left behind six siblings, his mother and the only world he knew to join Manchester Top Team, where UFC featherweight Lerone Murphy also trains.

If the cats – gifted to him by his coach Carl Prince – were supposed to provide Gautier with a sense of comfort after moving, his performances suggest it is a plan that has worked, with three first-round finishes in 2025.

Such success has put him in a position to transform the lives of his family in Cameroon, most notably by allowing his mother to retire later buying her dream home.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan recently praised Gautier’s “terrifying power, super speed and excellent technique” and hailed him as the “future” of the division.

“I always say the sky is my only limit. I haven’t taken off yet. I’m still on the ground, so I need to push myself harder,” says Gautier.

But even after winning nine of his 10 fights since turning professional in 2021, Gautier says he struggles with self-doubt.

“I see myself so low that sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and think, ‘I need to train – I’m not that good’,” he says.

“I look at people like Michael Jackson and wonder how he reached that level, and why can’t I get there too? What’s blocking me?

“It’s the same with Muhammad Ali and Cristiano Ronaldo. How did they get there? It didn’t happen in one day – it took years of hard work.

“They didn’t win all the time, but when they lost it was a lesson. If that’s the mindset, you can never truly lose. Muhammad Ali lost, and after that he became so special.

“In 100 years I want people to say, ‘I want to be like Ateba’. Not just one person – many people.”