Kelvin Gastelum Believes UFC Champion Israel Adesanya Has ‘Gotten Better’ Since They Fought at UFC 236

UFC middleweight ace Kelvin Gastelum spoke to ‘The Schmo’ and provided a long-awaited update on his injury. Gastelum has been sidelined due to a right knee injury where he tore his PCL, MCL, and meniscus, thus steering him away from actively competing.

In addition to his injury absence, Kelvin Gastelum hasn’t been able to settle on a weight class ever since going on a career skid at middleweight. Apart from losing to Israel Adesanya, he’s also been defeated by Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier, and Jack Hermansson, thus making his road back to the top a long one.

In the same interview, Kelvin Gastelum reaffirmed his earlier position to return to welterweight but also said that he’d consider taking a fight against a top 5 opponent at middleweight if it was offered to him by the UFC.

Read More: ‘He Did a Lot of Damage to My Career’- Daniel Cormier Believes the Bad Blood with Jon Jones Is ‘Never Going to Fade”

Kelvin Gastelum believes Israel Adesanya has improved since their fight

Gastelum was all praise for ‘The Last Stylebender’ as he prepares to face off against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276. Having faced both men, Gastelum is in a unique position to provide insight into the match-up and certainly felt that Israel Adesanya has all the tools to defeat ‘The Killa Gorilla’ if he applied himself.

Moreover, Kelvin Gastelum is confident that Israel Adesanya has grown as a fighter since they fought in a close five-round war back at UFC 236.

“He’s a great fighter. He’s proved himself every step of the way. He’s gotten better in my opinion. His fight with Jared (Cannonier) is going to be a very tricky one. Obviously, I fought Jared in my last fight. If he does a good job of mixing his strikes, and hiding his strikes, I think he does a good job of landing which ultimately can win him the fight.”

A win over Jared Cannonier would anoint Israel Adesanya as an all-time great middleweight as he’s stopped all top challengers who have crossed him. Additionally, Adesanya is able to dig deep in ways few fighters have and his only true challenge might lie ahead in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.