Kelvin Gastelum sends warm message to new champ Israel Adesanya

Earlier this year, Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya collided with the UFC interim middleweight title on the line. After five, razor-close rounds, Adesanya was named the winner and adorned with a UFC belt.

Over the weekend, Adesanya became the undisputed middleweight champion with a second-round stoppage of Robert Whittaker. Gastelum, on the other hand, is gearing up for a UFC 244 scrap with Darren Till.

If Gastelum is able to defeat Till at UFC 244, he’ll be right back in the heat of the UFC middleweight title race. Given his recent war with Adesanya, he’ll likely be better positioned for a title shot against the new champion than many of his peers if he’s victorious against Till.

That’s certainly the way Gastelum seems to be thinking.

Speaking on Twitter over the weekend, Gastelum sent a message to Adesanya, congratulating the new champion on his title win.

Well there’s that. Izzy showed up BIG. Congrats @stylebender see you around my man.

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) October 6, 2019

“Well there’s that. Izzy showed up BIG. Congrats [Israel Adesanya] see you around my man.” – Kelvin Gastelum on Twitter. 

From there, Gastelum vowed to reassert himself as the top contender in the UFC middleweight division when he takes on Darren Till at UFC 244.

Nov 2nd I’ll make sure to reclaim my spot! pic.twitter.com/jEOpxTgkhg

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) October 6, 2019

“Nov 2nd I’ll make sure to reclaim my spot!”– Kelvin Gastelum on Twitter.

As Gastelum suggests, UFC 244 goes down on November 2. It will emanate from the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The card will be topped by a welterweight scrap between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.

While Gastelum is understandably eager to a do-over with Israel Adesanya, all signs point to undefeated Brazilian knockout artist Paulo Costa getting the first shot at the new middleweight champion. That being said, Gastelum is still very much in the conversation.

Do you want to see a rematch between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/7/2019.