Yoel Romero’s Manager Claims Title Contender Turned Down Fight At UFC Belem
UFC middleweight title contender Kelvin Gastelum attempted to get a title shot against Robert Whittaker.
However, despite his attempt at campaigning his case to UFC officials, the promotion decided to go in a different direction as they thought former champion Luke Rockhold was more deserving of the opportunity.
Keep in mind that this bout all came about after Georges St-Pierre vacated the belt following his big win over Michael Bisping at UFC 217 last month.
With the fight already made official for the 185-pound title on Feb. 11 at UFC 221 in Perth, Australia, Gastelum is in need of his next opponent.
MMA manager Malki Kawa, who works with the likes of Jon Jones and Yoel Romero, is claiming that Gastelum turned down a fight with Romero at UFC Belem.
It appears that this was the planned main event for #UFCBelem, Brazil on February the 3rd. https://t.co/O7duyUMv5v
— Farah Hannoun (@Farah_Hannoun) December 9, 2017
Wow, Gastelum turned the Romero fight down. Unreal #anytimeAnywhere? #reallythough?
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) December 9, 2017
Romero, who is ranked at #2 in the official middleweight rankings, lost his first fight under the UFC banner this past July by losing via decision to Whittaker in an interim title bout at UFC 213. He holds wins over the likes of Lyoto Machida, ‘Jacare’ Souza, and Chris Weidman.
On the flip side, Gastelum, who won 2013’s Ultimate Fighter 17 middleweight tournament, feels he should have been granted the title shot over Rockhold. He is coming off a huge first-round KO win over Bisping. It’s likely he will respond to Kawa in the coming days.
Y’all forgetting Luke is also on a 1 Fight win streak! Got KOd by the guy I just beat! Came back after 2 yrs to beat a guy who didn’t compete in Ufc a year ago https://t.co/miuaO0mC2O
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) December 8, 2017
