K. Gastelum preparing for fight. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook UFC
Former challenger for the interim middleweight title (up to 83,9kg.), Kelvin Gastelum is back in the octagon this Saturday (2), at UFC 244, in New York and will fight the co-main fight of the night against Darren till. The North American wants to erase the defeat to Israel adesanya in his last battle, beat the Englishman and be able to ask for a rematch with the Nigerian, who is now the world champion. The statement was made to 'Combate'.
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“This is the fight that will put me back in a title fight. I feel like if I go in there and can win impressively against a guy like Darren till, the revenge against the Israel adesanya will be inevitable. And that's what I'm going to do. I predict a knockout victory in the first round. O Paulo borrachinha He deserves to be the next to compete for the title, but I'm going to jump the queue in front of him”, declared the fighter.
Recently, UFC president Dana White surprised MMA fans by announcing that Paulo suffered a biceps injury and ended up undergoing a surgical procedure, which will keep him away from the sport for at least eight months. If the information is confirmed, the Brazilian would be unable to face Israel, at least, until mid-2020.
The Minas Gerais player's injury opens the door to the possibility of other athletes trying to win the Nigerian's belt and Gastelum is one of them. To do so, the American will have to ruin Till's debut at middleweight.
"The Darren till He's a good left-hander, he's skilled at kickboxing, he's good at boxing, but I don't think he's better at wrestling than me; much less in jiu-jitsu. He won't have a better head movement than me. I need to know what his strengths are, because he is dangerous, but I am better in all areas”, said Kelvin.
Darren is moving up from welterweight to try his luck in the upper division. The Englishman left the division, now dominated by Kamaru Usman, in tenth position, and coming from two consecutive defeats; one of them, for the category belt. For the North American, regardless of his rival's debut or not, the focus is on victory.
“This thing about him moving up a division doesn’t change the fight. I've been there and I know what it's like. What matters is that he's moving up to middleweight, he's trying to take my place, but there's no way I'm going to let that happen. I'm the best guy in this division, I want to go in there and prove it. O Israel adesanya He's walking around with my belt and I want to guarantee the title shot because I'm going to take back what's mine. This belt belongs to me”, concluded the athlete.
Gastelum and Israel fought a real battle in a fight valid for the interim middleweight belt that took place in April this year, for UFC 236. After five rounds of intense movement and contact, the Nigerian ended up winning with a unanimous decision from the judges, which guaranteed the athlete the chance to face the former linear champion, Robert whittaker, whom he would defeat in a fight valid for title unification, in October.
Currently, Gastelum has 20 fights in his professional career, with 15 wins, four losses and one fight without result.
Till, in turn, has 20 appearances, with 17 wins, two defeats and one draw.
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