Kelvin Gastelum vs. Israel Adesanya: How many rounds did Gastelum win at UFC 236?

Kelvin Gastelum pushed Israel Adesanya all the way to the final bell in their UFC 236 clash back in 2019. Gastelum won rounds 1 and 4 on all of the judges' scorecards, with Michael Bell, Ken Coffey and Anthony Maness all scoring the bout 48-46 in favor of Adesanya.

'The Last Stylebender' needed a big round five to guarantee his victory and he did just that at UFC 236. The New Zealander was awarded a 10-8 round by all of the judges due to his dominance in the last five minutes.

Despite Israel Adesanya walking away with the UFC interim middleweight title, Kelvin Gastelum gained a lot of respect after the contest. The striking stats were also very close, with the Nigerian-born New Zealander landing 109 significant strikes compared to the American's 91 significant strikes.

Watch the full UFC 236 contest here:

Despite the striking stats being close, Kelvin Gastelum was dropped four times by Israel Adesanya. Three of the knockdowns came in the fifth and final round, which turned out to be the deciding factor on the scorecards.

Gastelum tried to impose his ground game during the contest, but the American only managed to control Adesanya for 1 minute and 21 seconds across five rounds of fighting. 'The Last Stylebender' also had some success on the ground, keeping control of the American for 42 seconds.

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How has Kelvin Gastelum fared in the UFC after losing to Israel Adesanya?

It seems the loss to Israel Adesanya has impacted the tradectory of Kelvin Gastelum's UFC career. Since losing to 'The Last Stylebender', Gastelum has only won one bout and lost four since facing Adesanya at UFC 236.

Darren Till, Jack Hermansson, Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier have all got the better of the American, with Gastelum only managing to beat Ian Heinisch since February 2021.

The victory came via unanimous decision, with the 31-year-old last stopping an opponent back in 2017. Gastelum finished Michael Bisping in the very first round at UFC Fight Night 122 and went on to beat Ronaldo Souza via split decision in his next outing.

Gastelum will attempt to put an end to this poor form when taking on the highly-respected Nassourdine Imavov in January. Imavov has only lost once in the UFC and will really test the American's ability.