Kelvin Gastelum will look to win gold next weekend at UFC 236 when he takes on undefeated contender Israel Adesanya for the interim UFC middleweight title.
Remember, Gastelum was expected to face current 185-pound titleholder Robert Whittaker back at UFC 234 this past February, but an injury to “Bobby Knuckles” put that championship bout on ice.
In preparation for Gastelum’s upcoming clash with “Last Stylebender,” UFC has released arguably the best performance of Kelvin’s accomplished career, which can be seen in the above video player. The action focuses on Gastelum’s main event bout with former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping back at UFC Fight Night 122 in 2017. In just over two minutes into the very first round, Gastelum was able to land a ferocious left hand counter that put “The Count” out for good.
Only time will tell if Gastelum is able to apply this sort of punching power against the longer and more versatile striking of Adesanya, or if the former Ultimate Fighter winner will have to rely on his ground game to subdue “Last Stylebender” en route to his first UFC title.
UFC 236 will take place on April 13 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, and feature a main event interim lightweight title fight between current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway and 155-pound contender Dustin Poirier.
For more UFC 236 fight card news click here.