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Fighters On The Rise | UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett
Highlighting Three Emerging Names To Watch This Weekend At UFC 324
Another year of action inside the Octagon kicks off this weekend, but so too does a new era as UFC moves to Paramount+ and debuts with an all-star fight card at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, headlined by an interim lightweight title clash between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.
Fighters On The Rise | UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett
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Fighters On The Rise | UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett
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As always, this series will look to shine a spotlight on a trio of athletes that feel poised to make some noise on the weekend and throughout the course of the year. While each event features a collection of established competitors, these lesser-known or ascending hopefuls flashed enough upside over the course of their respective UFC tenures to capture our attention and stand as individuals you should be paying attention to as well.
Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett
A couple might be familiar to you if you’ve been following this series for the last year, while another is a new addition to the FOTR family.
It’s time to get 2026 started with the debut instalment of Fighters on the Rise.
Ateba Gautier
Ateba Gautier Knocks Out Jose Daniel Medina In The First Round | UFC Mexico
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Ateba Gautier Knocks Out Jose Daniel Medina In The First Round | UFC Mexico
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One of the top newcomers in 2025, Gautier made a pair of appearances in this space last year after blowing through Jose Daniel Medina in his promotional debut in Mexico City at the end of March.
Following his dominant performance earning a contract on Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series, it wasn’t clear whether Gautier was an athletic dynamo that could thrive right out of the gates or was going to struggle due to his lack of experience. After crushing Medica at Arena CDMX, he did the same to Robert Valentin and Tre’ston Vines, never leaving the first round, showing that while he’s still green and has a ton of room to grow, his raw power, athleticism and physicality are going to be too much for many in the middleweight ranks.
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The Manchester Top Team representative is going to be on every list of potential breakout talents in 2026 (for good reason) and gets the opportunity to kick things off right away in a clash with fellow Class of ’24 alum Andrey Pulyaev, who rebounded from a loss in his debut to score a second-round finish and collect his first UFC win last August.
Gautier has all the elements you look for in an athlete with top-end upside: he comes from a great gym that has a history of developing talent (see Lerone Murphy) and has helped him build a sound foundation and strong fundamentals, plus he there is tons of room for him to continue to grow and expand his game as he gains more experience. Add in that he’s 23 years old, has won eight straight (all by stoppage) and competes in a division where opportunities abound, and you have a fighter that could very well rocket up the ranks in 2026.
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Pulyaev is a sound challenge for Gautier to face to begin his year, as he too comes from a good team, has a solid base of skills and fundamentals, and could force the Cameroonian middleweight to showcase more of his defensive grappling than we’ve seen to date.
Expectations are high for Gautier because of how great he looked in his first three outings, but just remember: development is not linear. Even if he doesn’t look as dominant as he did in Year One, it doesn’t mean he can’t reach the heights everyone is forecasting him to reach in the future. “The Silent Assassin” is going to be a star; it’s just a matter of how quickly he can make that happen.
Modestas Bukauskas
Whether you want to call Bukauskas a “late bloomer” or borrow the term “post-hype sleeper” from fantasy sports analysis, the simple fact of the matter is that the 31-year-old light heavyweight enters 2026 riding a 4-fight winning streak following a 3-0 campaign last year and is poised to make a push towards the Top 10 in the wide open 205-pound ranks.
The dual citizen has always done well outside of the Octagon, winning championship gold under the Cage Warriors banner ahead of each of his two stints on the UFC roster. He’ll tell you himself that he wasn’t fully prepared for life on the biggest stage in the sport the first time around, but after recovering from a gnarly knee injury and claiming the Cage Warriors title for a second time, Bukauskas has been in tremendous form since making his return in early 2023.
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Now 6-1 in his second run, “The Baltic Gladiator” has shown better decision-making and defensive awareness, plus a greater faith in what he brings to the table, which was evident in his first-round stoppage win over Paul Craig last September in Paris. Where his younger self may have been hesitant to go to the canvas with the Scottish submission ace, Bukauskas was confident he could not only survive, but thrive on the mat, following him to the ground and smashing out a finish with a pair of hellacious elbows as the horn sounded at the end of the first round.
He asked for the opportunity to face someone in the Top 15 following that contest and gets his wish this weekend, stepping in with rankings mainstay Nikita Krylov in another bout that will serve as a good measuring stick of how much the changes Bukauskas has made over the last couple years have taken root.
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Though Krylov has been stopped in his last two outings, he’s easily the most experienced foe Bukauskas has faced to this point of his career, having gone 30-11 overall and earned UFC wins over the likes of Ryan Spann, Volkan Oezdemir and Alexander Gustafsson. If Bukauskas can maintain the form he displayed in 2025 and push his winning streak to five, he’ll leave Las Vegas with a number next to his name and possibly a chance to face someone in the Top 10 next.
Josh Hokit
Hokit is a fascinating prospect and the type of undeniable athlete that talent evaluators are always looking to see transition into mixed martial arts.
The 28-year-old heavyweight was both an All-American wrestler and standout running back at Division I Fresno State before spending a couple years as a practice squad athlete in the NFL. He made his MMA debut in October 2023 with a third-round submission win, earned his place on the UFC roster with a second-round finish on Dana White’s Contender Series and posted a 56-second stoppage win in his promotional debut less than three months later. Add in that he trains at the legendary Jackson-Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it is easy to understand why so many people are curious to see what Hokit can bring to the table in his first full year in the UFC.
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There are going to be people that want to overlook or diminish his upside based on his boisterous personality and pro wrestling-infused post-fight commentaries, but those are elements that have also contributed to his getting noticed and garnering a ton of attention right out of the chute. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to tip your cap to Hokit for understanding how things work.
Ultimately, you must perform to maximize your opportunities and thus far, he has looked great, posting seven straight wins and a 100 percent finishing rate to begin his career. This weekend, Hokit steps in with fellow UFC sophomore Denzel Freeman, who earned a decision win in his promotional debut in November and also comes from a quality camp as well.
Being a young prospect in the heavyweight division is tricky because the lack of depth can lead to promising talents into difficult matchups earlier than they would in deeper weight classes, but we’re still a couple bouts away from that with Hokit. For now, it’s time to see what he can do for an encore after impressing in his debut, and reassessing what the future may hold from there.
UFC 324: Gaethje vs Pimblett took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 24, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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