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Before the most important fight of his career, you will not see Kelvin Gastelum embark on a war of words.
A cordial approach to promotion is normal for Gastelum, even though he is preparing to face the verbose word Israel Adesanya for an intermediate middleweight title in the UFC's co-organized main event. 236 April 13th. The stakes are clear for him: A shot of adding a UFC belt to the trophy box and offering Adesanya the first loss of his career in the MMA.
That's all the motivation that Gastelum needs and so far, the same goes for Adesanya. "The Last Stylebender" was respectful and said he was "excited" by the prospect of fighting against Gastelum. Even though the media narrative is getting worse during the week of the fight, it is unlikely to reach the level of some of their more peers in the UFC.
Gastelum was in Los Angeles for a lunch with the media on Thursday. He was asked to comment on the growing feud between rivals Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Some of his fans and experts wonder if the two men went overboard with their insults.
"I just think that some lines should not be crossed and that the current rivalry is intensifying, to the point that it should not be the case anymore," said Gastelum. "And I get the impression that if the situation continues to get worse, we will end up hurting or hurting someone. I really believe that. "
Nurmagomedov and McGregor have already had the opportunity to settle the score in the Octagon during their meeting at UFC 229 last October. There, Nurmagomedov successfully defended his lightweight title with a McGregor bid in the fourth round, in a bout meant to be the culmination of a long feud featuring antics out of the two men's cage . The situation may have worsened when Nurmagomedov immediately climbed over the cage after his victory and attacked McGregor's delivery man, Dillon Danis, causing a brief scrum.
Suspensions and fines have been inflicted on Nurmagomedov, McGregor and their collaborators involved, but the bad blood does not seem to have been settled. Their latest public attacks against each other have been deeply personal and Gastelum believes that some topics must be considered inaccessible, regardless of the volatile nature of the wrestling world.
"You should not play with people's wives. You absolutely should not play with people's family or religion, "said Gastelum.
If the tensions between him and Adesanya were to get worse, Gastelum does not seem worried. UFC 236 will mark its 15th march to the Octagon and has now seen and heard everything.
"There are so many people who have tried to hurt my skin and have a pretty thick skin," Gastelum said. "I do not play in that kind of thing."
On the contrary, Gastelum learned to ride with the blows, not just those of his fellow fighters. The 27-year-old showed an unusual bravado at UFC 234 in February, walking around the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, with a UFC belt and declaring himself the true champion when a hernia chased the holder of the middleweight title, Robert Whittaker, undisputed event meeting a few hours before the show time.
He heard about it from the fans, many of whom had come to see Whittaker, based in Australia, defend his title, and he admitted his reaction was refreshing.
"I liked doing it," Gastelum said. "Absolutely out of my character, but I liked doing it. It was cool. I've had boos, applause, people who treated me as a wanker. It was cool, it was something different and it pleased me.
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