Kelvin Gastelum steps up to replace Paulo Costa against Robert Whittaker

UFC Middleweight title contender, Paulo Costa was removed from the fight due to a severe flu. The illness caused the Brazilian to not have full training. He was scheduled to fight former Middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker on April 17.

Since the Brazilian pulled out from the fight, the promotion was left with either rescheduling the fight to the month of May or finding a new opponent for Whittaker. UFC went with the latter. The #8 ranked middleweight fighter, Kelvin Gastelum will take on the Kiwi on UFC’s April 17 event.

The April 17 card as of now does not have an official location. Rumours suggest that the fight might most probably happen in the UFC Apex, in Las Vegas. Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum will fight in the 5-round main event fight. Gastelum and Whittaker are scheduled to fight for the second time.

Kelvin and Robert are booked to step into the octagon after 2 years

The first time both the fighters were scheduled in february 2019 at UFC 234 but the fight failed to happen. Robert had to withdraw from the fight due to a hernia one day to before the fight. After more than 2 years the fighters will step into the cage together.

Kelvin is coming off a win against Ian Heinisch at the UFC 258 in February this year. Gastelum has a record of 17-6-0 in his career and will look to climb up the ranks from his current #8 position. The fighter has had his eyes on the belt since his bout against Israel Adesanya.

Robert Whittaker on the other hand is coming off two straight wins against Jared Cannonier and Darren Till since he lost his belt to the Last Stylebender. Robert is looking to avenge his title loss against Izzy as the winner of the April 17 event has a potential title shot.

Also read Paulo Costa most likely to pull out from the fight against Robert Whittaker on April 17 UFC event

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