UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa has pulled out of his fight against Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum will now step in to fight at UFC Fight Night on August 21.
Former UFC middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa has pulled out of another fight. The reason behind Costa’s removal from the matchup is undisclosed at this time. This is the second consecutive fight that he has pulled out from. Costa last fought the champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 253. He got destroyed in that fight and lost the fight in the second round via TKO. After the fight, Costa stated that he drank too much amount of wine the day before the fight that led to his failure in the quest to become the new champion.
After that, he was scheduled to fight former champion Rober Whittaker at UFC on ESPN 22 in April. Just a few weeks before that fight Costa withdrew himself from the matchup and surprisingly it was Kevin Gastelum who steeped on short notice that time too and fought Whittaker. Now Paulo Costa has pulled out of another fight and it’s Kelvin who is going to save the day for the UFC.
Kelvin Gastelum is one of the best middleweights on the planet right now. He is a true example of a fighter, someone who is ready to fight anyone, anytime at any place. He last fought against Robert Whittaker in April. He lost that fight via unanimous decision but put on a show for the fans and stepped up to fight a killer like Robert in such a short amount of time. Now Gastelum will be doing the same against another top middleweight in Jared. Kelvin is 1-4 in his past five outings. Gastelum’s last win came against Ian Heinisch at UFC 258.
Jared Cannonier is coming off a loss against former champ Rober Whittaker. Before that, he was on an amazing winning streak and most probably next in line to face Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship. But the loss against Rober was a lopsided one and it put Jared straight out of the title picture. He also suffered an arm injury in that fight which required surgery and took him out of action since.
This will be the third time for Cannonier that he has been matched up with either a former UFC champion or a contender who has been challenged for a title. This is a really important matchup for both the fighters and they look to seize this opportunity.
UFC Fight Night lineup :
- Jared Cannonier vs. Kelvin Gastelum
- Mana Martinez vs. Jesse Strader
- Fabio Cherant vs. William Knight
- Austin Hubbard vs. Vinc Pichel
- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
- Austin Lingo vs. Luis Saldana
- Parker Porter vs. Chase Sherman
- Brian Kelleher vs. Domingo Pilarte
- Clay Guida vs. Mark Madsen
- Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Sasha Palatnikov
- Bea Malecki vs. Josiane Nunes
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