“Not even Adesanya made me feel like that” – Kelvin Gastelum feels Robert Whittaker can become the middleweight champ

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3 years ago

Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya at UFC 243 face-offs (Credits: UFC)

Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker will soon square off in a rematch for the middleweight championship

Israel Adesanya beat Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 via. unanimous decision, to successfully defend his middleweight title for the third time. ‘The Last Stylebender’ gave Vettori no room the entire, ending up scoring 50-45 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Following the fight, Adesanya called out number one ranked middleweight contender Robert Whittaker for a rematch, title fight in his (Izzy’s) own backyard, Auckland.

“My arch nemesis…What’s his name? Whittaker, Bobby Knuckles…I don’t know what the f*ck is gonna happen with this whole COVID sh*t. We need to run that back in Auckland. We need to run that back in my territory this time. I’ll tell you when it is. You don’t get to decide, I get to decide.”

Following Adesanya’s call-out Whittaker responded with a Tweet saying that he was ready.

“Rest up, see you soon.”

Adesanya and Whittaker fought first at UFC 243. Whittaker was the middleweight champion back then, and Adesanya was the interim middleweight champion.

The event took place in Melbourne, and in only the second round of the fight, Izzy knocked out ‘The Reaper’ to become the middleweight champion.

Kelvin Gastelum is beyond impressed by Robert Whittaker

Following his loss to Adesanya at UFC 243, Robert Whittaker bounced back with three consecutive victories, with the most recent one against Kelvin Gastelum on the 17th of April.

In a largely one-sided contest, Whittaker thrashed Gastelum, winning via. unanimous decision.

Kelvin Gastelum took the fight on short notice against Robert Whittaker (UFC)

Gastelum, who was a guest fighter at the recently concluded UFC 263, spoke about the dangerous Whittaker, and his chances of winning the middleweight title.

Gastelum, has faced both Adesanya and Whittaker. Comparing both, he claimed that Whittaker made him look clearly bad, which even someone like Adesanya couldn’t.

““He was just a step ahead the entire time. It really motivated me. It really lit a fire in me to know that I still kind of have a little bit of work to get to that kind of level. He impressed me a lot. I didn’t think he was that good. Looking back at the fight, I’ve never felt like that in a fight. Not even Israel Adesanya made me feel like that. He really frustrated me, really made me look bad and he was just a step ahead the entire fight.”