Kelvin Gastelum likely to fight Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 273 as Nassourdine Imavov is out due to visa issues
Follow Us
Dricus Du Plessis- Kelvin Gastelum
Looks like UFC Middleweight Kelvin Gastelum has to make some last-minute adjustments as his opponent and upcoming prospect Nassourdine Imavov has been halted in process of entering UFC 273 fight week. Gastelum, a former interim-middleweight title challenger and possibly the hardest fight of current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the past, is 1-5 in his last 6 fights and is definitely in need of a winning streak in order to prevent getting farther away from title conversation.
Imavov is 11-3 in his overall MMA career and trains out of France’s MMA factory, the training home of former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane and the former training centre of current undisputed champion Francis Ngannou. Imavov is 3-1 in the UFC and has overall 9 wins coming by the finishes. This fight against Gastelum would’ve been the biggest one in Imavov’s career with just his 5th UFC appearance, but it seems destiny doesn’t want it to happen for now.
More on Kelvin Gastelum’s potentially new opponent for UFC 273- Dricus Du Plessis
Gastelum is now going to fight another upcoming prospect, this time from an altogether different continent from Imavov. Dricus Du Plessis, an upcoming fighter from South Africa who was supposed to fight Anthony Hernandez at UFC 273, is now going to most likely take Imavov’s position to fight Gastelum while other arrangements will be made for Hernandez.
Du Plessis is 16-2 in his overall MMA career with a 100% finish rate, so this fight seems more threatening on paper for Gastelum than the Imavov fight. Du Plessis is 2-0 in the UFC with back to back knockout wins. But Du Plessis is more dangerous in grappling with more submission wins than knockout wins. All of Du Plessis’ submission wins come either via guillotine or rear-naked choke.
What do you make of Gastelum’s last-minute opponent replacement from Imavov to Du Plessis? Who do you think wins this middleweight bout? Do you think Gastelum’s best days are behind him or do you think he has a good chance of winning over Du Plessis due to the edge of experience? UFC 273 takes place early next month with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkaovski defending his title for the third time against a unique styled fighter in Chan Sung Jung in the main event.
Stay Updated!
Abhai Singh Tanwar
(1386 Articles Published)