In what could have been a must-win bout for the sake of his UFC run, Robert Valentin delivered with the kind of performance needed, scoring a first-round submission of Julien Leblanc during the UFC Winnipeg prelims.
Valentin worked Leblanc over with kicks, landing to the body and head. An overhand right dropped Leblanc, and Valentin dominated on the ground.
Valentin got to the back and worked a face crank, which then evolved into a rear-naked choke for a submission win.
Robert Valentin Submits Julien Leblanc At UFC Winnipeg
Valentin was a popular figure on season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter, defeating Giannis Bachar and Paddy McCory before losing the middleweight final to Ryan Loder. Last year, he suffered a decision loss to Torrez Finney and was finished by Ateba Gautier.
Leblanc was making his UFC debut tonight. He entered tonight on a five-fight win streak, most recently submitting Ryan Rohovich in November.
Ateba Gautier’s striking is skilled, slick, and powerful — all of which was seen during the UFC 318 preliminary card, where he needed just over a minute to put away The Ultimate Fighter season 32 alumnus Robert Valentin.
Gautier rocked Valentin with a left hand early, causing him to stumble. Valentin covered up and tried to move around, but Gautier was patient.
Instead of rushing in with a flurry, Gautier continued to tag Valentin with combinations until Valentin dropped next to the fence. Gautier then landed a pair of follow-up strikes before referee Herb Dean waved off the bout.
Ateba Gautier Quickly Stops Robert Valentin At UFC 318
While Robert Valentin encountered some difficulties doing tape study for Ateba Gautier, he thinks he will have the durability and on the job experience to put on a memorable performance. Valentin vs. Gautier will transpire at UFC 318: Holloway vs. Poirier 3 on July 19th. Valentin appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts to touch on seveal subjects including fighting someone this weekend that some people are calling ‘the middleweight Francis Ngannou.’
When expounding upon how if he gets his ideal outcome on Saturday night that a victory over someone being buzzed about like this could give him a lot of momentum in his career, Robert Valentin said,
“Yeah, definitely. I mean getting an opportunity to fight a guy with like you said such hype behind his name. I mean even if they call him the little Ngannou or middleweight Ngannou, that’s a big name to put behind someone. So that’s definitely also [an] opportunity for me to capitalize on and yeah, I’m looking forward to.”
Robert Valentin gets into the X’s and O’s of this Ateba Gautier clash
In terms of the overall resume and skillset of Ateba Gautier heading into this matchup in the coming days at UFC 318, Robert Valentin stated,
“So you definitely see an individual who is very athletic and big and strong. It was still very hard to analyze him before the fight. Just because of the level of competition he faced. It’s very hard to tell how he fights when the fight gets tough, when the opponent is resisting, you know. He has eight professional fights and kind of all of them, they were not really giving him a fight.”
“So I think in regards of that, there is definitely some room for interpretation. But also for me, an advantage in the experience of facing higher level opponents. So yeah, all of that in combination with an athletic and strong opponent, yeah, it’s like a surprise box. You don’t know what you get out of it. But it’s definitely a recipe for a f***ing good fight.”
After a pair of first round finishes punched his ticket to the finals of The Ultimate Fighter season 32, Valentin is still looking for his first win on the UFC main stage. This on the heels of his controversial loss to Torrez Finney via split decision in April. ‘Robzilla’ initially cut his teeth on circuits like Levels Fight League and Ares FC before entering the TUF house.
The debut of Torrez Finney at UFC Vegas 105 proved to be a disaster in more ways than one. Though he scored a decision win, Finney’s performance came under fire — as did one judge’s scorecard.
After a bit of sizing each other up, Finney went right in for a takedown. He managed to lift Valentin up and bring him down, but Valentin was up almost right away. In spite of Valentin’s defenses, Finney took him down again and got to his back — even when the fight returned to the feet. Finney scored another pair of takedowns before the end of round one.
Finney got back to the takedown right away as the fight entered round two. Valentin threw up his legs and attempted a triangle but was unable to get it. Finney seemed to trouble Valentin with a slam halfway through the second, but he didn’t do much to warrant any notable damage. Valentin got back to his feet in the round’s final minute and sought a kimura but couldn’t get anything going.
Finney continued to press for the takedown in the third round, and while he controlled most of the round, he did little to no damage during those five minutes.
Finney still took the judges’ decision. Judge Tony Weeks, a veteran judge – albeit one who has judged a lot more boxing than MMA – gave all three rounds to Valentin despite the The Ultimate Fighter alumnus being dominated with wrestling. The other two judges gave Finney the fight 29-28.
Torrez Finney Underwhelms In Debut, Ends In Baffling Split Decision Victory At UFC Vegas 105
I see why Dana white didn’t want to sign Torrez Finney 💤🥱#ufcvegas105
Finney made three appearances on Dana White’s Contender Series. His first appearance in 2023 — a submission win over Yuri Panferov — saw the UFC CEO blast his performance, claiming he wouldn’t last in the UFC. Finney finally earned a contract after a decision win over Cam Rowston and a first-round finish of Abdellah Er-Ramy on the show.
Valentin competed on season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter and finished as the middleweight runner-up, defeating Giannis Bachar and Paddy McCorry on the show before losing in the final to Ryan Loder.
