Kelvin Gastelum Claims He Was Only 60% Or 70% Against Israel Adesanya
Kelvin Gastelum is still on his quest for gold at 185 pounds. Gastelum had his opportunity earlier this year when he took on Israel Adesanya at UFC 236 in April for the interim middleweight title. Adesanya took home the unanimous decision victory after a tremendous five-round war.
However, according to Gastelum in a recent interview with TMZ, the former Ultimate Fighter winner wasn’t 100 percent for the fight. (H/T MMA News)
“I wasn’t,” Gastelum said. “People don’t really know that, and I don’t come out in the media and say that, but, yeah, I was sick for about two weeks. I got the staph. It came back from when I had it in Australia…had the staph, had congestion in my lungs, so I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t really breathe.
“I was throwing up, so I couldn’t really train for about two weeks. People don’t really know: I stopped taking antibiotics six, seven days before the fight. People don’t really know it, but I was probably 60%, 70% for the fight.”
Gastelum hasn’t fought since his loss to Adesanya earlier this year. Now, he’s slated to take on Darren Till at UFC 244 in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on November 2. As for Adesanya, he just dismantled Robert Whittaker to become the undisputed 185-pound champion of the world, and will make his first-ever career defense against Paulo Costa next.
What do you think about Gastelum claiming he wasn’t fully healthy for his fight with Adesanya?
