Kelvin Gastelum labels scheduled surgery "a success"; prepares to step back into the octagon soon
UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum is on the road to recovery. When his original opponent Nassourdine Imavov pulled out of a bout that was supposed to take place earlier this month, he was scheduled to fight Driscus Du Plessis at UFC 273 before he was forced out due to a knee injury.
The No.10-ranked middleweight shared an update on his recovery and took to Twitter to post:
"Surgery a success. Thank you all for your continued support! I'll be back to 100% in no time!!"
Surgery a success.
Thank you all for your continued support! I’ll be back to 100% in no time!!
#OnAmission4Gold https://t.co/H2KGYrLdBK
No time frame for a return has been reported, but with his last fight taking place in August 2021, it may be a full year until Kelvin Gastelum is able to apply his trade inside the octagon once again.
His last scheduled opponent, Driscus Du Plessis, told Areil Hlewani of The MMA Hour that he felt like the former title challenger was ducking him, saying:
"He [Gastelum] did an interview and just said 'Listen, I don't know this guy at all.' He saw two fights, he saw the record, he's like 2-0 in UFC I guess, then they started watching tape, and that's where the problem started."
Gastelum is yet to respond to Du Plessis' comments.
Since going toe-to-toe with current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya back in 2019, Gastelum has struggled, going 1-4 in his last 5 bouts with his only win coming over the unranked Ian Heinisch. It is worth noting that he has only fallen short against the elite of the division, with his last two losses coming against Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier respectfully.
Fellow UFC fighters wish Kelvin Gastelum after undergoing knee surgery
A great amount of support was shown by fellow UFC fighters on Friday after Kelvin Gastelum posted an update on his recent knee surgery and added that he is planning on coming back to the octagon 100% healthy.
Belal Muhammad, who is recently coming off a tremendous victory over Vicente Luque was amongst the lot, replying to Gastelum's update saying:
"Speedy recovery brother."
@KelvinGastelum Speedy recovery brother
Gilbert 'Durinho' Burns is another elite welterweight who showed full support by tweeting:
🏾@KelvinGastelum 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Gastelum last competed in August of last year when he dropped a decision to the next in line Jared Cannonier and has gone 1-5 in his previous 6 fights.