Roman Kopylov Knocks Out Ateba Gautier in a UFC 332 Upset
Roman Kopylov knocked out Ateba Gautier in the first round of their middleweight fight at UFC 332. The stoppage came at 3:12 on Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, and it flipped a main-card betting favorite in one left hand.
Gautier walked in at 11-1 and around a 2-to-1 favorite. He had stopped four of his five UFC opponents and was 24 years old with an 81-inch reach. Kopylov was 15-5, 34, and giving up four inches in height. The card treated him as the step up. He treated the fight like a counter.
The finish arrived off a straight left. Gautier was still on his feet with the clock at 1:53. The next frame he was on the canvas. Kopylov followed him down, landed the extra shots, and the referee jumped in before Gautier could recover. The official result was a KO/TKO.
The numbers were one-sided for a fight that lasted just over three minutes. Kopylov landed 19 of 23 total strikes and scored the only knockdown. Gautier connected on 7 of 30. Neither man attempted a takedown or a submission. Every landed strike on the card counted as significant.
Kopylov spoke to Joe Rogan through an interpreter after the win. “Honestly, I think I’m dreaming,” Kopylov said. “I was up against a young guy, a killer and a guy that finishes everybody by knockout. That’s why I feel like this isn’t real.”
That was the gap on paper. Gautier had been finishing people. Kopylov had just lost decisions to Gregory Rodrigues and Paulo Costa before a decision win over Marco Tulio in May. Saturday was not a decision.
Kopylov moved to 16-5. Gautier fell to 11-2.
The loss is Gautier’s first in the UFC. He had stopped Ozzy Diaz at UFC 328 in May, beaten Andrey Pulyaev by decision in January, and knocked out Tre’ston Vines and Robert Valentin before that. The streak made him the name on the marquee. The left hand ended it before the round reached the final two minutes.
Kopylov is 8-5 in the promotion after the win. He still has not been given a ranking off this result, and no next opponent was named in the cage. What changed is the read on both men. A prospect who had been finishing veterans just got finished by one.
Gautier will have to answer for a first UFC loss that did not go to the scorecards. The reach did not matter once the left landed. A rebound fight is the next step, not a title conversation.
Kopylov leaves Salt Lake City with the upset and a first-round knockout on the reel. He said it did not feel real. The record says it was.
