Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that UFC 236 on April 13th will feature an interim middleweight title fight between top 185 pound contenders Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya.
Gastelum (15-3, 1 no contest) most recently had his fight against middleweight champion Robert Whittaker cancelled at the last minute due to a hernia from Whittaker that required surgery. Whittaker is currently recovering from the injury and hopefully will return in the second half of 2019. Prior to his fight cancellation, Gastelum earned a split decision over fellow top contender Jacare Souza and knocked out former champion Michael Bisping.
Adesanya (16-0) has successfully transitioned from elite kickboxer to one of the best strikers in mixed martial arts. “The Last Stylebender” has gone 5-0 in the UFC including recent victories over contenders Brad Tavares and Derek Brunson as well as former champion Anderson Silva less than two weeks ago in the substitute main event for UFC 234.
Here’s what MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas had to say about the bout:
“Stylistically, if Adesanya can keep this fight standing, he clearly has an advantage with his elite kickboxing background and striking skill-set. Gastelum has power on the feet and presents issues as a southpaw, but he’s almost certainly needs to take this fight to the floor to win it. It’s easy to assume that this is a great stylistic matchup for Adesanya, but perhaps we are underestimating Gastelum here. Gastelum has faced some of the best fighters in the world at middleweight as an undersized 185-pounder and has performed well. That being said, Adesanya is on a crazy rise right now has a tremendous amount of support from the betting public so I’m going to open him as a -185 betting favorite with the comeback on Gastelum being +155.”
Kalikas opened the betting lines for Gastelum vs Adesanya moments ago via Several Bookmakers
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UFC 236: Gastelum vs Adesanya
April 13, 2019
Location: TBA
Main Event – Interim Middleweight Title
Kelvin Gastelum +155
Israel Adesanya -185
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CLICK BELOW TO BET ON GASTELUM VS ADESANYA
