Kelvin Gastelum mocks Luke Rockhold on social media with mock poll
Kelvin Gastelum thinks it’s a joke that Luke Rockhold is being considered to challenge Robert Whittaker for the interim middleweight title.
Kelvin Gastelum made it clear that he wants to fight Robert Whittaker for the interim UFC middleweight title next, but the 26-year-old has stiff competition.
Former champ Luke Rockhold, who returned to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 116 after a one-year layoff, is also in the mix as a title contender and the Californian is determined to reclaim the belt.
Gastelum, though, catapulted to No. 6 in the official middleweight rankings after his first-round knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC Shanghai and the Ultimate Fighter 17 winner mocked Rockhold for even being considered as the next interim title challenger.
A: Fought only once in 18 months against someone who wasnt even competing in the ufc a year ago.
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) December 6, 2017
B: Fought 4 times in 12 months, 3 of them in the main event in the last 8 months against former champions ranked in top 10 of the division. *Doesn’t have a modeling career. ♂️
Although Gastelum has fought two former champions in the past year, the surging contender did lose to Chris Weidman via submission at UFC on FOX 25.
Rockhold, who lost his title to Bisping last year after being knocked out in the first round, rebounded with a finish over former WSOF middleweight and light heavyweight champ David Branch. Rockhold forced Branch to tap out to strikes at the end of the second round and is currently ranked as the No. 3 middleweight contender in the world.
Whittaker, who beat Romero to win the interim strap in July, is currently nursing a knee injury but is hoping to return on Feb. 11 at UFC 221 in Perth, Australia.
Despite Gastelum’s campaign for a shot against Whittaker, Ariel Helwani reports that talks are underway for a championship bout between Whittaker and Rockhold at UFC 221.