Tre’ston Vines stepped in to face Ateba Gautier on short notice at UFC 320, replacing Ozzy Dias in the middleweight fight.
Vines had competed for promotions including CFFC and LFA earlier in his career, and entered his UFC debut on a four-fight win streak, albeit against some wildly disproportionate opposition, including an 0-7 fighter in what was Vines’ 11th pro contest.
The fight that played out as the featured prelim on Saturday took very little time to unfold. Gautier, frankly, wasted no time finding the finish.
Round one started, and Gautier was the one with all the eyes on him. He started off by stalking Vines down, throwing one shot at a time, but Vines wasn’t engaging at all. Vines tried a takedown, but it was from too far out, and Gautier landed a knee that dropped him. Right after that, Vines got in on another takedown, and that time it was better timed. Vines was working on the legs against the cage, and Gautier landed two hard elbows to the side of the head. It was a delayed reaction, but Vines went down stiff and the extra shots from Gautier sent the ref in.
Official Result: Ateba Gautier def. Tre’ston Vines by knockout (elbows and GnP), Round 1, 1:41
