VIDEO: Former opponents Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum have wholesome exchange at UFC 290
Although most of the conversation was about his in-cage confrontation with Dricus Du Plessis, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya did have a feel-good exchange with a former opponent this past weekend at UFC 290. In a video shared by Kelvin Gastelum, who faced Adesanya for the interim middleweight title back in 2019, the two met cage-side during the UFC 290 event and the conversation is quite wholesome.
Israel Adesanya would start by telling Gastelum that he is proud of him and how he has watched his former opponent grow from their first meeting through his transition between middleweight and a recently announced move back down to his original division, welterweight.
This fight game is a golden thread that binds us together forever! Respect Is earned for life. @stylebender thank you for inspiring so many including myself. 🙏👊 pic.twitter.com/QDpIbppPuZ
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) July 9, 2023
“I’m so proud of you. You know why? Discipline. Maturity. Back in the day I was a bit talented and I worked hard bro. But the fact that now you know and you’re like ‘yeah let’s get it’, do your fu**ing thing.”
With the reigning middleweight champion telling Gastelum that now is his time, the former interim title challenger responded by saying he was able to learn from Adesanya and when he first entered the UFC.
“This is what I respect about you, bro. When you came into the scene you knew what you wanted to do, right? You fu**ing went for it. Now, I feel like I’m in that place.”
Coming off a win earlier this year against Chris Curtis back in April, Kelvin Gastelum will have his next fight take place against the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at welterweight. The fight will have immediate implications to Gastelum’s standing in the welterweight division and could find himself in a very opportunistic place with a victory over the sixth-ranked Rakhmonov.
To see more of the interaction between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya, as well as others, watch the video below from his official YouTube channel, that gave a behind the scenes look at his appearance at UFC 290.
