Kelvin Gastelum suggests title-Eliminator against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290 in July

With both vying for a middleweight championship fight against Israel Adesanya, Kelvin Gastelum has suggested himself and South African contender, Dricus du Plessis should share the Octagon during International Fight Week in July at UFC 290, in a division championship eliminator.

Himself recently featuring at UFC 287 earlier this month on the preliminary card of the flagship event, one-time interim title challenger, Kelvin Gastelum returned to the winner’s enclosure for the first time since 2021 with a unanimous decision win over Chris Curtis.

As for du Plessis, the Pethora native extended his promotional-perfect Octagon run to five straight fights with a second round corner’s stoppage TKO victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 285 back in March. The victory propelled du Plessis to #6 in the official middleweight ranks.

Kelvin Gastelum eyes summer fight with Dricus du Plessis

Calling for a championship rematch against the above-mentioned, Adesanya off the back of his victory over Curtis in the ‘Sunshine State’ – Gastelum, who pushed the City Kickboxing staple the distance back in their 2019 interim title showdown, called for a title-eliminator against former KSW titleholder, du Plessis this summer.

“Title eliminator vs @dricusduplessis on July 8.” Kelvin Gastelum tweeted. “What do you say Dricus? @OneAmission4Gold.” 

Reportedly eying a return to the Octagon before the close of this summer, Nigerian-Kiwi striker, Adesanya entertained the possibility of fighting the above-mentioned, du Plessis, after he reclaimed the middleweight crown with a thunderous second round KO win over Alex Pereira at UFC 287 two weeks ago. 

Furthermore, Adesanya’s head coach, Eugene Bareman suggested his student compete for light heavyweight gold against Jamahal Hill in his next Octagon affair, however, the potential matchup has been scoffed at and branded “stupid” and a “waste of time” by former UFC title challenger, Chael Sonnen.