Kelvin Gastelum out of UFC fight vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov due to injury

“It’s hard to be a Kelvin Gastelum fan sometimes, I know,” an emotional Kelvin Gastelum said as he announced his withdrawal.

[autotag]Kelvin Gastelum[/autotag] is no stranger to adversity, but encountering it still hurts nonetheless.

After a cryptic tweet Tuesday by [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) that indicated their upcoming fight was canceled, Gastelum (18-8 MMA, 12-8 UFC) confirmed he withdrew from the bout due to a facial fracture sustained in training. The bout was scheduled to take place Sept. 16 at Noche UFC, the promotion’s Mexican Independence Day-themed event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“Unfortunate news, my fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov is off,” Gastelum said in a video posted to his social media and YouTube channel. “I received an elbow that resulted in an open fracture and a few bones that came out fractured. I have to apologize to everybody. To everybody who was excited for this fight, I apologize to everybody. My apologies to Shavkat Rakhmonov and his team. I feel bad. I feel very horrible about this unfortunate incident. I’ll be back. I’m still going to continue training. I can still do my strength and conditioning training (and) movement. I can still do a lot of training with my trainer, Noah Feinberg.”

While Gastelum indicated there is no solid plan in place as to what’s next, he expressed interest in the Rakhmonov fight being rescheduled for later in 2023.

“I asked to move it up to November,” Gastelum said. “Hopefully, they grant me this wish. That would be Nov. 11 in Madison Square Garden. It’s hard to be a Kelvin Gastelum fan sometimes, I know. We go through ups and downs together. But I promise we’re fighting to get back on the horse and get back on that winning streak and continue it.”

It seems Rakhmonov is less keen on New York City, as he is Abu Dhabi, where the promotion will hold UFC 294 on Oct. 21.

“Pinata, I agreed to fight you on your territory on Mexican Independence Day in arena full of your supporters and it’s not my problem you can’t do it now,” Rakhmonov wrote on Twitter. “It’s your turn to accept to fight me on my territory in Abu Dhabi at UFC 294! Or did you realize it was bad idea just now?”

Gastelum, 31, snapped a two-fight skid in April when he defeated Chris Curtis. On the other side of the equation, Rakhmonov looked to continue his tear through the welterweight division and add to a resume that already includes Geoff Neal and Neil Magny among others.

With the change, the Noche UFC lineup includes:

  • Champion Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko – for women’s flyweight title
  • Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. TBA
  • Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
  • Daniel Rodriguez vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
  • Chris Curtis vs. Anthony Hernandez
  • Lupita Godinez vs. Sam Hughes
  • Cynthia Calvillo vs. Elise Reed
  • Edgar Chairez vs. Daniel Lacerda
  • Christos Giagos vs. Daniel Zellhuber

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for the Noche UFC.