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‘He Really Frustrated Me’ – Kelvin Gastelum Talks About His Loss to Robert Whittaker

Published 06/14/2021, 12:17 PM EDT

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Kelvin Gastelum faced Robert Whittaker at the UFC Vegas 24 event on April 17, 2021. The middleweight fight was the main event and the most anticipated fight of the night. The fight ended with Whittaker defeating Gastelum via unanimous decision.

Now, as Gastelum gets ready to face Jared Cannonier on August 21, 2021, the fighter was asked about what he made of the loss to Whittaker and what he has learned from it.

Gastelum said, “Yeah, I mean he was just a step ahead the entire time. It really motivated me, it really lit a fire in me to know that man I still have a kind of little bit of work to get to that kind of level.

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“He impressed me a lot; I didn’t think he was that good. And looking back at the fight, it’s like man no one has ever, I’ve never felt like that in a fight. Not even Israel Adesanya did I feel like that. He really frustrated me, really made me look bad. He was just a step ahead the entire fight.”

Gastelum was very honest when talking about the fight against Whittaker. Gastelum acknowledged the fact that ‘Bobby Knuckles’ was superior to him throughout the fight.

He even said that ‘The Reaper’ made him look bad in a way that even Israel Adesanya could not. Seeing that a fight between Adesanya and Whittaker is on the cards, this comment caught the attention of everyone present.

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What next for Kelvin Gastelum and Robert Whittaker?

The UFC has confirmed that Kelvin Gastelum will face Cannonier in his next fight. However, when it comes to Whittaker, there is no official announcement of his next fight. Although the most probable scenario is that Whittaker faces ‘The Last Stylebender‘ for the title next.

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Gastelum accepted that he was a level below Whittaker when they faced other. He talked about how that fight motivated him to improve himself and reach a higher level. Therefore, it would be interesting to watch Gastelum’s next fight and see how the fighter comes back after that loss to Whittaker.

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Written by:

Paras Pande

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Paras Pande is a UFC author at EssentiallySports who is pursuing his graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication. An ardent follower of the UFC, he has been covering the sport for 2 years now. Before joining the team at EssentiallySports, Paras gained expertise as an MMA writer whilst working with Sportskeeda.
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