[autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] remains unbeaten since losing his title.
The former UFC middleweight champion picked up yet another win in his path back to title contention. Whittaker (23-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC defeated [autotag]Kelvin Gastelum[/autotag] (17-7 MMA, 11-7 UFC) in a dominant unanimous decision that read 50-45 across all three judges’ scorecards.
The middleweight clash served as the main event of UFC on ESPN 22, which took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
It was a masterful performance by Whittaker.
In the first round, Whittaker connected on a big head kick that stunned Gastelum. He followed up with a series of punches that had Gastelum in trouble. Whittaker was able to get the fight to the ground and control the entire round. It was a dominant first five minutes from the former champion.
The second round was better for Gastelum, but even then, Whittaker landed the better shots. He connected with several hard jabs and kept checking Gastelum with short, hard left hooks. Gastelum was wearing the damage on his face as he bled from his right eyebrow.
In the third round, Gastelum picked up momentum. He was still taking heavy shots from Whittaker, but he was also dishing out damage of his own as he started to time Whittaker. The round was close until the the last minute. Whittaker remained on the back heel countering well, while Gastelum was slowing down. In one of the last combinations, Whittaker wobbled Gastelum.
From that point on, the last two rounds were complete mastery by Whittaker. The 30-year-old was simply faster with his footwork and strikes. Gastelum did a good job at trucking forward and looking to land a fight-ending shot, but it never came. Whittaker was too sharp and smart to make any costly mistakes.
Whittaker now has consecutive wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Gastelum since losing the belt to Israel Adesanya back in late 2019. The defeat to Adesanya is the only one Whittaker has suffered in the last seven years.
In his post fight interview, he asked for the championship rematch against Adesanya.
“Nothing but respect, but I think we should talk and I think it’s time we cross paths again, and we can get a sold out stadium in Australia,” Whittaker said. “Let’s make that happen.”
Gastelum, who took the fight on short notice by replacing Paulo Costa, is 1-5 in his past five UFC outings.
Below are complete results for UFC on ESPN 22:
- Robert Whittaker def. Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
- Andrei Arlovski def. Chase Sherman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jacob Malkoun def. Abdul Razak Alhassan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Tracy Cortez def. Justine Kish via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Tracy Cortez def. Justine Kish via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Alexandr Romanov def. Juan Espino via technical split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – Round 3, 1:05
- Jessica Penne def. Loopy Godinez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Gerald Meerschaert def. Bartosz Fabinski via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:00
- Austin Hubbard def. Dakota Bush via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Tony Gravely def. Anthony Birchak via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:31
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