Robert Whittaker is not overlooking Kelvin Gastelum in the slightest.
In the main event of UFC Vegas 24 on Saturday, Whittaker and Gastelum will finally meet. The two were supposed to fight at UFC 234 but on the day of the fight, the champ was forced out of the bout. Now, two years later they will finally fight, which is why Whittaker had no hesitation in taking the opponent switch just a month out.
“I said yes because timing-wise, it was almost perfect for me,” Whittaker said to Yahoo! Sports. “I wanted to fight because the camp was done, more or less. After speaking about it with my staff and my family, it made sense to go ahead with the fight.”
Of course, Whittaker was supposed to fight Paulo Costa, but the Brazilian had to withdraw from the fight due to contracting the coronavirus.
Although many thought Costa would be a tough fight given his KO power, Whittaker disagrees. Instead, he believes Gastelum is one of the most dangerous middleweights alive and he knows he can’t overlook him in the slightest.
“What makes him so dangerous is that he can take the fight to grappling, striking and wrestling,” Whittaker said. “He has knockout power. He is a very dangerous opponent, one of the more dangerous I could see in the division. We’ll have to wait and see who shows up on that night and who he’ll evolve into.”
Regardless, Robert Whittaker is extremely confident he will get his hand raised and finally put the Gastelum-saga behind him. If he does win, the Aussie says he has a callout ready and many believe it will be for the Israel Adesanya rematch.
There is no question if Whittaker beats Gastelum on Saturday, the former champ deserves a rematch as it would be three wins in a row.
Do you agree with Robert Whittaker that Kelvin Gastelum is one of the most dangerous middleweights?
