UFC newcomer called in during fight week to face feared knockout artist at UFC 320

Tre’ston Vines will make his UFC debut on less than a week’s notice against Ateba Gautier at UFC 320 this Saturday.

MMA fans have been looking ahead to UFC 320 and its headlining rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira for months, but the card took an unfortunate hit on Monday when Ozzy Diaz announced that he’d withdrawn from a middleweight matchup with Gautier due to health reasons.

Finding a suitable replacement for Gautier on such short notice seemed like it might be a big ask, but Team Iridium Sports Agency has announced that Vines has stepped up to make his Octagon debut in Las Vegas.

Tre'ston Vines Gets Short-Notice UFC Opportunity

Following a 10-2 amateur career that closed out with three-straight wins, Vines made his professional MMA debut in 2019 and won via TKO in just 43 seconds.

Vines ended up going 4-0 with four finishes via strikes before he was stopped by Jalin Fuller in his LFA debut in 2021. That kicked off what turned into five-fight run where he alternated wins and losses, with all three of those losses coming via stoppage in the first round.

Following a 26-second loss to Raheam Forrest under the Cage Fury FC banner, Vines rebounded with a unanimous decision over Chris Mixan before stopping his next three opponents. The 28-year-old most recently defeated Ethan Hughes in the first round in late August, and he was scheduled to return to the LFA next week before being pulled to make his debut at UFC 320.

Ateba Gautier Is A Rising Middleweight Star

Vines gets a huge opportunity to introduce himself to UFC fans when he fights on a major stage on Saturday night, but he’ll be standing across from a fighter that’s knocked out the last seven opponents he’s faced.

After going 1-1 to start his professional MMA career in a pair of fights that both went the distance, Gautier has established himself as a fearsome knockout threat and has only gone past the first round once during his current winning streak. The Dana White’s Contender Series contract winner made his UFC debut in March and has already collected two “Performance of the Night” bonuses in his first two Octagon outings.

Ateba Gautier (red gloves) fights against Robert Valentin (blue gloves) during UFC 318 at Smoothie King Center. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Vines’ willingness to step up and face Gautier means that UFC 320 is back at full capacity with 14 fights. Before Ankalaev and Pereira meet in the night’s main event, UFC gold will also be on the line when Merab Dvalishvili tries to defend his bantamweight belt for the third time against Cory Sandhagen.

UFC 320 Fight Card

• Main Event: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alex Pereira 2 – For the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

• Co-Main Event: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen – For the UFC Bantamweight Championship

• Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

• Josh Emmett vs. Youssef Zalal

• Joe Pyfer vs. Abus Magomedov

• Ateba Gautier vs. Tre’ston Vines

• Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Andre Muniz

• Farid Basharat vs. Chris Gutierrez

• Daniel Santos vs. Joo Sang Yoo

• Macy Chiasson vs. Yana Santos

• Patchy Mix vs. Jakub Wiklacz

• Punahele Soriano vs. Nikolay Veretennikov

• Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Austin Vanderford

• Veronica Hardy vs. Brogan Walker

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