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LOS ANGELES – Kelvin Gastelum knows he won the UFC middleweight title. After all, it was expected that he would meet champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 232, a main event lost when Whittaker had to retire the day of the bout.
But Gastelum (15-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is not convinced that his opponent at UFC 236 has earned a shot in the title fight.
The winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 17" will meet Israel Adesanya, a growing athlete, for the interim middleweight belt, during the co-feature match of the April 13 event at the Atlanta State Farm Arena.
Adesanya (16-0 UFC; 5-0 MMA) has won five fights during its first 12 months in the UFC, the latest being a decision victory over the legendary Anderson Silva at the 39th UFC. UFC 232. Nevertheless, Gastelum does not think that Adesanya has the resume to deserve a place in a title fight at this stage of the game.
"I do not think he went through the fire that I went through," Gastelum told MMA Junkie on Thursday. "I did not fight the quality of my opponents."
Middleweight is a shark tank composed of prominent fighters, and Gastelum has proven himself in a deep division with a knockout win over former title holder Michael Bisping and a decision win against the US. former title holder at Strikeforce, Ronaldo Souza.
Adesanya, meanwhile, has won the UFC victories over Rob Wilkinson, Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares, Derek Brunson and Silva, 43, a list that Gastelum considers incomparable.
"You know, obviously, he fought great fighters," said Gastelum. "But the top five guys are, every one of those top five players can be champion, and I do not think he's battling that kind of guy."
On paper, Adesanya would seem like a potentially difficult style confrontation for Gastelum, as he boasts a size and asset advantage and uses impractical angles to apply his kickboxing style. But Gastelum has already proven that he could turn what seemed to be a disadvantage as a medium weight too small into an advantage, and saw no reason why the match between UFC 236 and Adesanya would be different.
"I feel like a disadvantage, I kind of learned to benefit myself," said Gastelum. "At my height, I learned to make myself easy with guys. I have learned to do this and to maintain my reach despite my limited abilities. "
In any case, Gastelum does not seem too concerned about the challenges presented by "The Last Style Bender".
"Adesanya has been in the organization for a year and a half, something like that," said Gastelum. "Then I went back and I watched Derek Brunson's fight and Anderson Silva's fight, and that's all."
For more information on UFC 236, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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