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The poster for Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum has a 2000s vibe to it. The UFC has released the official poster for the upcoming UFC Vegas 24 event that’ll be headlined by a five-round middleweight bout between Whittaker and Gastelum.
UFC Vegas 24 is set to transpire at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, on April 17th, 2021. And the newly released poster for the event has seemingly set the MMA community abuzz, taking the anticipation of the highly awaited middleweight bout to another crescendo.
Fans can check out the poster in the tweet embedded below:
This poster is being compared to the ones the UFC used during the 2000s decade, with a gritty and hard-hitting vibe to it.
The UFC Vegas 24 event was initially scheduled to be headlined by a five-round middleweight matchup between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa. However, Costa was coerced into withdrawing from the fight in mid-March due to illness. It was later revealed that Costa had contracted COVID-19.
His brother and coach, Carlos Costa, confirmed that Paulo was afflicted by COVID-19 but never stopped training. This, in turn, made Paulo’s condition worse. Additionally, Paulo Costa was later dealing with the flu as well, which was taking a long time to go away.
Needless to say, Paulo Costa had no choice but to pull out of the UFC Vegas 24 fight. Thankfully, Kelvin Gastelum stepped in on short notice to serve as the replacement at the event. Resultantly, the Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum fight – a fight that’d actually fallen apart a few years back – ended up being rebooked.
Back in February 2018, Robert Whittaker held the undisputed UFC middleweight title. Whittaker was expected to defend his title against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234. However, Whittaker withdrew from the event just hours prior to the fight, due to an internal hernia and a collapsed bowel.
Whittaker underwent emergency surgery and eventually recovered, but his fight against Gastelum wasn’t rebooked. Fast-forward to 2021, and the two talented middleweight stars’ paths have crossed once again.
Check out here: Things to know about Robert Whittaker's Wife
Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum – A tale of fighters aiming for gold and revenge against the middleweight king
Israel Adesanya is the current UFC middleweight champion and has faced both Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum in the past.
The Last Stylebender first faced and beat Gastelum via unanimous decision at UFC 236 (April 2019), winning the interim UFC middleweight title. Adesanya then fought and defeated Whittaker via second-round KO at UFC 243 (October 2019), winning the undisputed UFC middleweight title.
The winner of the Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum UFC Vegas 24 matchup will likely receive the opportunity to rematch Adesanya, win UFC gold, and avenge their respective losses.
