Michael Bisping surprised by cause of Kelvin Gastelum's mouth injury

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping reacted to the news of Kelvin Gastelum pulling out of his bout in 2023's first fight card, UFC Fight Night 217. Kelvin Gastelum was expected to face surging middleweight prospect Nasourdin Imavov in the main event of the fight card.

However, Gastelum had to pull out, citing a mouth injury, which Bisping speculated probably happened during sparring. Sean Strickland stepped up to fight Imavov, and the fight will now be contested at 205 lbs as opposed to middleweight (185 lbs).

Michael Bisping said that fighters shouldn't be sparring on the week of the fight and that they should spend their time making weight instead.

Skip to 3:29 for Bisping's reaction to Kelvin Gastelum pulling out:

Here's what the former UFC middleweight champion said:

"There's not a whole lot else to say about that, is there? I mean, as I said, he sustained an injury - maybe, it was [because of] sparring. I mean, it's five days out from the fight, [he] certainly shouldn't be sparring. That all goes [away] in the final week of camp. This week [fight week] is [about making the] weight, okay? [It's about] preparing mentally - making weight, preparing mentally, allowing the body to rest and recover while staying sharp physically and mentally. You certain should not be sparring."

Bisping then went on to talk about how good the new main event will be, saying that both Nasourdin Imavov and Sean Strickland won't need to go through the process of cutting too much weight or any at all. He even said that we might all be geared to see a better fight than what was originally slated.

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Kelvin Gastelum shares graphic video of mouth surgery

Following his pull-out from the UFC Fight Night 217 main event, Gastelum took to Twitter to share a graphic video of the surgery being performed for his mouth injury. The injury was the reason for the TUF 17 winner pulling out of his scheduled bout with Nasourdin Imavov.

Here's the graphic video shared by Gastelum (Viewer discretion advised):

The former interim middleweight title contender expressed sadness at not being able to compete in the bout. Prior to sharing the video above, Gastelum shared the following tweet:

Here's what the tweet read:

"I'm extremely disappointed to say the least. This is not how I wanted to start 2023. I worked my ass off and battled through a lot of [adversity], and was ready to put on a hell of a show this weekend. I apologize to Imavov, his camp, as well as the UFC and all the fans."

Kelvin Gastelum last fought No.3-ranked middleweight Jared Cannonier at UFC Vegas 34, where he lost a five-round unanimous decision. He is ranked No.13 on the organization's middleweight roster and has a promotional record of 11-8 (1 NC) and an overall MMA record of 16-8 (1 NC).