HONEY, Australia’s favorite “Aussie” is HOME! This Saturday – February, 9 middleweight champ Robert Whittaker (20-4) makes the walk to the octagon in Melbourne, Australia inside the Rod Laver Arena. Across from the octagon will be a formidable opponent in Kelvin Gastelum (15-3-0,1 NC) who is young, in his prime, and hungry. Hell his hashtag on twitter for the longest time has been “#OnaMission4gold”. Kelvin’s desire for gold has never been questioned but in order to get through a true and battle tested champion like “the reaper”- everything else will be.
A post shared by Kelvin Gastelum (@kgastelum) on Feb 8, 2019 at 3:59am PST
MAIN EVENT
Robert Whittaker has already established himself as, arguably, one of the greatest middleweight champions in the UFC. His journey to the title was far from easy and was definitely the road less traveled. Upon entering the middleweight division in late 2014, Robert Whittaker has gone undefeated in the division. His victories have come against the likes of Brad Tavares, Urijah Hall, Derek Brunson, Jacare Souza and of course the two title fights / WARS against Yoel Romero. The first fight against Romero crowned him as the interim Champion and the second proved what many knew, that not only was he an undisputed champion but that his heart was second to none. It had many spectators asking ourselves “How the hell did he survive that?” This week, Whittaker has gone on to call Yoel a “monster” of a man and has calmed the notion that some people think he may not be the same fighter after going 10 rounds with Yoel Romero. However, he has let it be known that people should think otherwise; those wars should strike a certain type of fear in opponents and be an example of the type of fighter he is. Rocky Balboa once said “its not about how hard you can hit– it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.. that’s how winning is done.” Since the “Aussie” entered the middleweight division, forward has been his only direction and winning has been all he’s known, regardless of the adversity faced in each fight. Racking up win after win, regardless of who they put in front of the champ! He continues to move forward until his opponents will is all but shattered and all that’s left to do is finish him. Whittaker’s style of fighting was never more apparent than when he dismantled Jacare. He had Jacare confused and basically looking for a way out of that fight. Now all eyes are set on the homecoming of the middleweight king. The people of Australia were so close to seeing their champion when the UFC came to Perth, unfortunately due to injury Whittaker was pulled from the card. For those down under, let’s hope the wait was worth it and that their champ will reign “AND STILL”. Looking to play spoiler to the homecoming will be Kelvin Gastelum.
A post shared by Robert Whittaker (@robwhittakermma) on Feb 8, 2019 at 8:13pm PST
Kelvin Gastelum isn’t shying away from walking into his enemy’s territory. He has been very vocal this week and already declared himself the champion. It may be more of a mentality type of feeling as opposed to him actually feeling like he is the literal champ…regardless, he believes that he’s going to get the job done inside one round and land a flush punch putting Whittaker on his back. Despite being the current betting underdog (+210), Gastelum has never been one to shy away from what the odds say. Since Kelvin’s first fight at middleweight where he left Tim Kennedy a bloody mess in the octagon and ultimately won the fight via TKO –he put the division on notice. Since that fight in late 2016, Kelvin has gone on to win 3 out of his 4 fights in the division. His lone loss has come to that hand of Chris Weidman, a fight I’m sure he’ll want to get back. His victories have come against Tim Kennedy, Michael Bisping, and Jacare Souza. If he could have it his way, he’ll go into Melbourne Australia inside the famous Rod Lavar Arena and walk out the arena with his Mission (#onAmission4gold) completed.
A post shared by Kelvin Gastelum (@kgastelum) on Feb 7, 2019 at 2:07am PST
CO-MAIN EVENT
Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya (15-0) vs Anderson “Spider” Silva (34-8-0, 1NC) may not be for a title but all eyes will be tuning into this co-main event. This fight has major title implications because according to the boss man himself, Dana White, this is a number one contender match. On one hand we have the undefeated Adesanya who has torn through just about every opponent the UFC has tried to put in front of him. In 2018 he was as busy as could be, making the walk to the octagon 4 times. His most recent bout was in November, where he completely outclassed the well-known Derek Brunson ultimately finishing him inside the 1st round by TKO. “The Last Stylebender” is not one to slow down as he’s not looking past the GREAT Anderson Silva, but he has already started paving a trail to a possible bout against the winner of the main-event; Particularly, if it happens to be Robert Whittaker. Adesanya has made the bold claim that if it happens to be that “Silva bout that sold out UFC 234” in a matter of minutes, not the champ. While “Stylebender” constantly keeps a collective cool about himself, it should be noted that his opponent is not like anyone who he has ever faced.
A post shared by Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) on Feb 8, 2019 at 2:53am PST
With over 40 plus fights and despite how you feel about his run-in with USADA, there will still be those who call him one of the UFC’s GOATs not only because of the notoriety that he brought to the sport/organization but because of his run as a middleweight champion that surpassed 5 years. Which is why it comes as a surprise that someone with all the accolades and accomplishments in this division finds himself on the other side of the fence in terms of betting odds. Anderson Silva comes in as a +485 underdog against the heavy favorite (-670) Israel Adesanya. “The Last Stylebender” isn’t looking too much into the odds as he made it clear during Thursday evenings UFC 234 press conference that he knows that Silva is very capable of getting the job done and not getting ahead of himself in terms of what those on the outside are saying about fighting an older version of Anderson Silva. With the respect though comes a little bit of disrespect. Adesanya with possibly the line of the conference when he let it be known that Silva “brought [him] into this game, and for [him] it would be an honor to take him out of this game.” This is the classic master vs protégé fight. Adesanya has always idolized Silva and all that’s left to find out is if the master has one more lesson to teach before the night is over.
A post shared by Anderson "The Spider" Silva (@spiderandersonsilva) on Dec 31, 2018 at 12:39pm PST
UNKNOWN MMA’S Fight You Ought to Know
UFC 234 can be looked at as “2 fight card” due to its well-known and most accomplished fighters being in the co-main and main event. One fight though that is flying under the radar is Australia’s own Nadia “187” Kassem (5-0). The Aussie will be fighting for the second time in the UFC and will be taking on her toughest opponent to date- Montana De La Rosa (9-4-0). De La Rosa is adamant that she will be giving Kassem a “1” on her loss column. De La Rosa’s confidence is definitely backed up by what odds maker believe because De La Rosa is currently the 2nd highest favorite (-265) on the main card. Don’t tell the odds to Kassem though because she probably doesn’t give a damn what the odds say.
A post shared by Montana De La Rosa (@montana.delarosa) on Feb 7, 2019 at 12:30am PST
After being away from the octagon for more than a year. Nadia Kassem is proving that her time away from the octagon due to injury is an example of her toughness and that it goes beyond the octagon. She injured her back in a freak accident and followed it up months later having built up frustration and punching a rear-view mirror from a car. The glass from the mirror cut her hand up and caused injury to a tendon. She has gone on to let it be known that she does battle with mild schizophrenia, but with the combination of therapy and medication she has stayed right and is primed and ready to make the long-awaited walk back into the octagon in front of her people. This fight against Montana De La Rosa may be a battle but based off what she’s gone through this past year, the fight this Saturday may be the light at the end of the tunnel.
A post shared by Nadia “ 187 ” Kassem 🇦🇺🇱🇧 (@nadia187kassem) on Feb 6, 2019 at 10:18pm PST
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