Ali Abdelaziz suggests a potential opponent for Robert Whittaker after possible withdrawal by Paulo Costa
Kelvin Gastelum has been touted by his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, as a possible replacement for Paulo Costa following reports of 'The Eraser' pulling out of his bout against Robert Whittaker on April 17.
Ali Abdelaziz responded to a tweet regarding the reports, suggesting that he has a fighter ready to step-in to fight former Middleweight champion 'Bobby Knuckles' at UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Costa.
Clarifying what he meant by the tweet in a follow-up tweet, Ali wrote -
"Translation: I have a client available to step in to the Octagon against Robert Whittaker."
It was around the time of these reports that Kelvin Gastelum posted a tweet suggesting that he is eager to fight again. In the tweet, he posted a meme in which a character is shown waiting for a phone call. In the caption, Kelvin Gastelum used the hashtag "#OnAmission4Gold". It is quite evident that Kelvin Gastelum is all for stepping in for Paulo Costa.
As per MMA Fighting, Paulo Costa was forced to pull out of his bout with Robert Whittaker due to a medical condition. Costa is reportedly suffering from a bad case of flu. This has deterred his preparations for the fight, and preparations for a fight with a former champion certainly cannot be taken lightly.
How will the fight against Robert Whittaker be beneficial for Kelvin Gastelum?
Put simply, a win over Robert Whittaker would certainly put Kelvin Gastelum back on the list for title contention.
In his last 'quest for gold', Kelvin Gastelum squared off with Israel Adesanya for the interim UFC Middleweight title. In a battle that went down as one of the greatest fights ever, Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya went at it for the entirety of the five rounds. Both fighters put on a spectacular show of excellent striking and will.
Israel Adesanya emerged victorious by way of a unanimous decision and went on to become the UFC Middleweight champion. On the other hand, Kelvin Gastelum's form plummeted as he went on to lose two more fights, against Darren Till and Jack Hermansson, consecutively. Only recently did he ditch the losing streak in a fight against Ian Heinisch at UFC 258. Now, as he re-embarks on his quest for gold, bagging a win over Robert Whittaker would be a huge boost.
After his loss to Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker fought and won twice in 2020, against top contenders Darren Till and Jared Cannonier. He is also the #1 ranked Middleweight contender. However, a win over the Australian fighter should put Kelvin Gastelum straight back into talks for title shot.