Who wins the UFC 234 main event between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum?
Frank Hyden, Columnist – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
I think Whittaker comes out aggressive and lands some heavy shots, forcing Gastelum to scramble and try to survive the onslaught. I think he will, but the punishment takes a toll and Gastelum ends up succumbing sometime in the fourth round. You can only take so many shots and Whittaker hits really hard. Gastelum is tough, but I think Whittaker stops him with a big flurry.
Sean Covington, Columnist – Covington’s Corner
Robert Whittaker is going to win unless Kelvin Gastelum can land a lucky shot out of nowhere early. Gastelum doesn’t have the gas tank to keep up with Whittaker. He just never manages to get over the hump and I don’t think he will this time either. Gastelum is just another gatekeeper; he’ll make money and put on good fights; even if he were to be champ it wouldn’t be a long term thing.
Christian Moore, MMATorch Contributor
I’m not as confident in this pick as the Adesanya/Silva fight, but I still have a truckload of confidence that Whittaker destroys Gastelum. Gastelum has never struck me as anyone that was impressive. He got past Jacare, but that’s the only thing that has ever impressed me. Sure he beat the recently dethroned Bisping in his last fight, but Bisping to me was always overrated, and avoided real talent, and also clearly wasn’t healthy enough to be fighting at that point. The fight that sticks in my mind is Gastelum vs Weidman, and Weidman steamrolled Gastelum, and that was less than 2 years ago. Whittaker is coming off of two of the most hardcore fights we’ve ever seen against Yoel, and I believe that those fights had a positive and a negative. The negative is it has shortened his career. However, being that he is young, he will be near unstoppable until he hits that point, which isn’t quite near, so I have Whittaker getting Gastelum out in let’s say 3 rounds by TKO.
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Michael Hiscoe, MMATorch Managing Editor
Whittaker showed tremendous durability, takedown defense, and just overall toughness in his two wins over Yoel Romero. Gastelum isn’t as explosive as Romero, but he poses similar threats to Whittaker as Romero did. I don’t think that Gastelum is going to have the power to put Whittaker away, but he may tire himself out trying to do so. This will open the door for Whittaker to secure a second-round TKO and solidify himself as the top middleweight in MMA.
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