Is anyone else as stoked for this fight as I am? I'm not nearly as much into MMA as I am into boxing, but there have been a handful of fights like Khabib vs. Conor, Gaethje vs. Poirier, and Holloway vs Aldo I that got me almost as hyped as I get for a big superfight in boxing. Whittaker vs Gastelum might be the most excited I've been for an MMA bout. At least, it's up there. This is a fight that is based entirely on its own competitive merits, with no need for for antics or trash talk. Despite his flabby appearance Gastelum is a phenomenal physical talent, particularly with his devastating hands and his cut throat offensive BJJ. Whittaker is sort of the MMA equivolent of Gene Tunney or Benny Leonard. I think in a decade or two, fans will look back at him as the prototype of what an ideal mma fighter without a dominant skillset in any one discipline would look like. Although he doesn't have debilitating power, his boxing is extremely intelligent, spiced up with kicks to the body, head, and legs. His grappling was good enough to shrug off the submission attempts of a multiple time Mundials/ADCC champion while stuffing takedowns from an Olympic silver medalist. It also has some X-Factors. Gastelum's discipline issues are public knowledge. Will the stature of a title fight elevate him to new levels of focus, or will he implode from the pressure? And what about the notoriously injury prone Whittaker? Can he make it to the fight healthy? Is his body compromised from two damaging wars with Yoel Romero and is he recovered from a terrifying case of staph in his gut (yike!)?
We have Gastellum vs Whitaker because Dana White doesn't want to do a Romero vs Whitaker III right now.
Yeah, Dana probably wants Romero to get a win before a third fight with Whittaker and Romero, especially since Yoel missed weight twice in a row. Yoel might never get another shot since it seems like Jacare will be next in line and Stylebender will be up next if he beats Anderson impressively.
Looks like I'm going to watch it live,it's going to be an awesome atmosphere along with seeing Anderson Silva fight live for the 1st time. You mentioned near the end about possible lingering damage Whitaker may have suffered in those 2 wars with Romero,which is probably my biggest concern for Whitaker in this fight.You only have to look at how fighters like Lawler and Condit for example who sadly since there similar epic fight have never been the same fighters .
Why on earth should Romero get a shot at the title ? He continually misses weight. He missed weight in the interim title fight when he beat Rockhold then missed weight AGAIN in his title shot against Whittaker. It's getting laughable with the guy. I think Whittaker-Gastelum will be a real close fight and probably go to a decision. I slightly favour Whittaker myself.
Agreed. Condit has especially dropped off. With him it seemed like he lost steam physically and psychologically. It also seems like Whittaker is one of those guys who is just naturally injury prone. I don't know what it is, but you do notice in combat sports that some guys have bones/sinew that hold up great and rarely get injured while others just seem to struggle to stay healthy. Chris Weidman is that way, and in boxing guys like Jesus Chavez, Ivan Calderon, and Vitali Klitschko always seemed to be in and out of rehabilitation. It's a shame because Robert's mental game is one hundred percent dialed in, to the point of perfection. He also has a great team, but the question is whether his ligaments can answer the call to greatness.
If Whittaker defeats Gastelum, we might have to wait another year for him to defend the belt... keeps getting injured. Winner of Adesanya vs Silva prob next. Since they're fighting on the same card - a title fight in June/July, Whittaker/Gastelum vs Adesanya - Adesanya should beat Silva handily, mismatch imo. I could see Yoel moving up to LHW and challenge for the titel there. If Gus defeats Jones, i see an immediate rubber match - if Jones wins, who is next then? Yoel could easily get a title shot over Smith, Latifi or Blachowicz.. Reyes is the only great prospect in the top-15 right now who potentially could be a threat to Gus or Jones. I would even say that Yoel have a decent chance against both Gus and Jones, Jones doesn't defend his chin that well, and one of those bombs from Yoel can knock out most human beings. If Yoel decides to stay at MW, lets see a rematch between him and Jacare in April maybe, winner fight for the title late 2019.
