Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum Set For UFC 234
Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum set to take place at the upcoming UFC 234 pay-per-view event. The fight promotion announced the news on Tuesday morning. The date was first reported by ESPN. UFC 234 is expected to take place in Melbourne, Australia.
This goes to show that Gastelum wants that UFC gold bad enough, he’ll go to enemy territory.
It was revealed several months ago that once Whittaker is healthy enough to fight again, he will make his next title defense. They also booked him to coach The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 28 opposite Gastelum.
This season of the reality show will wrap up on Nov. 30 at Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. For those who may not recall, both fighters previously appeared on the show. Whittaker won The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes welterweight tournament. Meanwhile, Gastelum was crowned middleweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 17.
Surging Middleweights
Whittaker won the interim middleweight title when he beat Yoel Romero back at UFC 213 in July of 2017 by unanimous decision. The UFC booked this fight yet again in the main event for the UFC 225 pay-per-view event at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. This is where Romero suffered a devastating split decision loss to Whittaker. The UFC champ is currently on a nine-fight win streak.
On the flip side, Gastelum made his return to the middleweight division back in 2016 where he surged up the rankings. Thus, he became a title contender with wins over the likes of Souza, Michael Bisping, Tim Kennedy, and Johny Hendricks. He has not fought inside of the Octagon since May 2018 when he beat Souza.
The UFC 234 pay-per-view event is set to be held on February 10, 2019, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on ESPN+.
