Kelvin Gastelum Has Bold Prediction For UFC 234 Title Fight With Robert Whittaker

Kelvin Gastelum is feeling extremely confident heading into his UFC 234 middleweight title fight against Robert Whittaker, to say the least.

Gastelum has earned his shot at the 185-pound title against “Bobby Knuckles” in Australia. Speaking at a media luncheon this week to promote the event, the former Ultimate Fighter winner offered a bold prediction for the bout (via MMAjunkie):

“I’m predicting a first-round knockout,” Gastelum said. “I feel so confident in my abilities and confident in what I’ve done in the sport.”

With back-to-back wins agains Michael Bisping and Ronaldo Souza, Gastelum is heading into the first title fight of his career. However, he’ll have a tough task ahead of him in Whittaker, who hasn’t lost since February of 2014. Whittaker is currently on a nine-fight win streak. He won the 185-pound title back in July of 2017.

Whittaker defeated Yoel Romero to capture the interim middleweight championship via unanimous decision. However, when undisputed champion Georges St-Pierre vacated his title due to injury, Whittaker’s status was promoted. This will be Whittaker’s first official title defense due to Romero missing weight in their rematch this past summer.

UFC 224 goes down live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on February 10, 2019.