Kelvin Gastelum Sticks With Bold Prediction For Robert Whittaker Fight

Kelvin Gastelum sticks with his bold prediction for his upcoming UFC middleweight title fight against champion Robert Whittaker. This fight will serve as the headliner of the UFC 234 pay-per-view event.

These fighters actually have something in common. They both won The Ultimate Fighter TUF. Whittaker won TUF: Smashes welterweight tournament. Meanwhile, Gastelum was crowned middleweight winner of TUF 17.

In a previous interview while promoting this fight, the title contender made it known that he thinks he’ll knock out the UFC champion in the first round of their fight. When asked about that again during an interview with MMAJunkie, Gastelum admitted to not being a KO artist.  

“When I say things like, ‘I’m going to knock him out in the first round,’ I mean it, but I’m ready for a 25-minute war,” Gastelum said. “But when I see Rob, I just see hard work. I see a lot of heart. I see a lot of will. Just like me – I don’t bring a lot of special abilities like, let’s say, Israel Adesanya. He has a special talent. I’m not necessarily the greatest striker or the greatest wrestler or the greatest jiu-jitsu guy. I’m just in there to win fights, and that’s what I think that Rob is good at, too.”

Still Not Backing Down

But even though he acknowledged that, Gastelum still doubled down on his prediction for UFC 234:

“I’m not no Mystic Mac or anything, but yeah, that’s what I’m still thinking,” Gastelum said. “I feel like if I put my hands on anybody, I can put the lights out on anybody in the world. I’m very well prepared for this fight. But at the same time, I’m prepared for a 25-minute war. I say that I’m going to knock him out in the first round, but that’s just me in my head. That’s just the scenario I see playing out in my head. But obviously, I could be wrong. It could be a 25-minute war, which I’m ready for.”

The UFC 234 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, February 9, 2019 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.