Robert Whittaker smothers Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night
FILE – Robert Whittaker of New Zealand celebrates after his middleweight title fight against Yoel Romero of Cuba during the UFC 225: Whittaker v Romero 2 event at the United Center on June 9, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Whittaker won by a split decision. Dylan Buell/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Dylan Buell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Robert Whittaker overwhelmed Kelvin Gastelum in every facet, cruising to a unanimous decision in their UFC middleweight main event Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Whittaker stunned Gastelum in the first round en route to 50-45 wins across all cards.
Whittaker (23-5) more than doubled Gastelum (17-7) in total strikes, recorded four takedowns of the American and dominated control of the fight, over four minutes to just 26 seconds for Gastelum.
Whitaker has his sights set on a rematch with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who defeated Whittaker with a second-round TKO on October 2019 at UFC 243.
“I think we should talk, mate,” Whittaker said afterward. “I think it’s about time we crossed paths once again. I think I have some tricks he hasn’t seen yet.”
"The next fight for me is for the title. That's the fight I've earned."@RobWhittakerMMA has his sights set on a rematch with Israel Adesanya 🔊⬆️
Final #UFCVegas24 Results ⬇️:
— UFC News (@UFCNews) April 18, 2021
Earlier, Andrei Arlovski won a unanimous decision over Chase Sherman in their heavyweight bout. It was a tightly contested fight but Arlovski scored a 29-28 decision across all cards.
Arlovski, 42, made his UFC debut in 2000 and is third all-time in appearances (35).
Jacob Malkoun recorded a unanimous decision over Abdul Razak Alhassan in their middleweight contest. Malkoun took all three cards 30-27.
Tracy Cortez defeated Justine Kish in a split decision in their women’s flyweight bout. Cortez took two cards 29-28 and 30-27 while Kish took one card, 29-28.
Luis Pena also won a split decision over Alexander Munoz in their lightweight bout. Pena was the 29-28 winner on two cards but dropped one card by the same score.
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