Cats, sleepless nights and Michael Jackson fuel Gautier’s UFC dream

In the three decades since the UFC was founded, few fighters have put together a debut year quite as spectacular as Ateba Gautier.

In 2025 the Cameroonian rose from Dana White’s Contender Series to become one of the middleweight division’s most entertaining prospects as he collected three wins and two performance bonuses.

Yet the 23-year-old tells BBC Sport that one of his most treasured moments of the year actually came away from the octagon.

“It was one of my favourite moments of the year – 100%,” says Gautier of the day he adopted his twin kittens.

Gautier’s affection for his household pets, Mya and Lili, is as surprising as it is wholesome and stands in stark contrast to the typical persona of a 6ft 4in prizefighter.

“I have always liked cats,” he says.

“Back in Cameroon we had seven or eight cats. I think I wanted cats here in England because I couldn’t have a lion or a tiger.

“I love animals. I will always be more comfortable in the jungle, the forest or the wild than in a place like Las Vegas with all the lights. This life is not for me.

“For me, the beauty is not where there are lights, cameras and parties. That is a way to spend money and get into trouble.

“You’ll usually find bad things in those places. But in the wild I feel at peace.”

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.”

Gautier’s next bout is against Andrey Pulyaev on Saturday and victory against the Russian could put him in contention for a place in the rankings for the first time.

Gautier, though, has loftier ambitions in the sport and has set his sights on dethroning middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.

The Russian defeated Dricus du Plessis last year to win the belt and cement his status as one of the most terrifying fighters on the planet – except in the eyes of Gautier.

“Chimaev has a good style, first and foremost. He’s got strong grappling. But I’m not his last opponent or his next opponent – I’m Ateba. When the time comes, it will be my time,” he says.

“If it’s my time to shine, it won’t matter who’s in front of me. I’ll show everyone that it’s my time.

“I respect him; he’s good. I respect everything he’s done. But when it’s my time, big brother, it’s time to sleep.”