UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum is riding a split decision victory over Ronaldo Souza at the moment, having previously knocked out former champion Michael Bisping. With that in mind, Gastelum now believes that the reigning title holder for the division is ducking him.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Gastelum revealed that he believes UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has not accepted a fight against him because of the way to the two fighters match up.
“I know that he’s been offered the fight against me twice and he has not been wanting to fight me. And I think that’s for good reason. I think I give him the most difficult time if we step in the cage and I think he knows that. In my opinion, I match up horribly for him.”
“I thought Romero would have been getting the nod, but obviously he didn’t. And selfishly I thought, I was hoping they’d give it to Whittaker. Just because Romero had missed weight, he wouldn’t have been getting the belt and then it just would have created this whole scenario where I’m definitely not getting the next shot. It just wouldn’t be a position where I would be fighting for a title any time soon.”
“I don’t know how he feels he deserves it. He’s been injured, he’s been out, unfortunately. But that’s just the way it goes. He says he’s the most decorated fighter, but that’s in the past, man. We’re talking about now. Active fighters, fighters who are winning fights and fighting in the big fights, they should be rewarded. And that should be me.”
“Chris Weidman thinks that he should get the shot over me?. I was ranked ninth when he fought me. He was coming off a three-fight skid. Since we fought, I’ve fought two top-five guys, two former champions.”
