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Kelvin Gastelum has confirmed his UFC Fight Night 188 fight against Robert Whittaker on April 17, 2021 with a Brad Pitt GIF.
The MMA community has been rife with speculation regarding Kelvin Gastelum potentially stepping in to fight Robert Whittaker, replacing Paulo Costa who’s currently dealing with an illness. It's now been confirmed that the Gastelum vs. Whittaker matchup will headline UFC Fight Night 188 next month.
Addressing the same, Kelvin Gastelum has put forth multiple tweets, including one from the movie Burn After Reading. The GIF shows Hollywood megastar Brad Pitt having a conversation over the telephone. Fans can view Gastelum’s tweets below:
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Kelvin Gastelum’s statements that he put forth in a couple of his tweets read as follows:
“Heeyyyyy see y’all soon. Thank you @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 @AliAbdelaziz00 for this opportunity! #OnAmission4Gold”
“Let’s also put it together for the best manager in the game @AliAbdelaziz00”
Kelvin Gastelum also suggested how excited he is about the fight by tweeting out the Brad Pitt GIF from the comedy/crime movie Burn After Reading.
Kelvin Gastelum’s last fight was a unanimous decision win over Ian Heinisch at UFC 258 in February 2021. On the other hand, Robert Whittaker’s last fight was a unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 254 in October 2020.
Multiple sources, including ESPN MMA and Kelvin Gastelum himself, have confirmed that he will indeed be stepping in on short notice to face Robert Whittaker at UFC Fight Night 188.
The Kelvin Gastelum vs. Robert Whittaker matchup had fallen apart a couple of years back
Then-UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was scheduled to defend his title against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in February 2019. However, Whittaker withdrew from the matchup a few hours before it was supposed to get underway.
The Reaper’s withdrawal from the fight was due to him having to undergo emergency dual surgery on a twisted and collapsed bowel as well as an abdominal hernia in the intestine later the same day.
Kelvin Gastelum went on to fight Israel Adesanya for the interim UFC middleweight title at UFC 236 in April 2019, a fight he lost via unanimous decision. Adesanya then unified the UFC middleweight titles by defeating Robert Whittaker via second-round KO at UFC 243 in October 2019.
Now that the Kelvin Gastelum vs. Robert Whittaker matchup, which fell apart in 2019, has been rebooked, whom do you see emerging victorious? Sound off in the comments.
