UFC 234 takes place at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday 10th February and sees Robert Whittaker defend his UFC Middleweight Championship titles against Kelvin Gastelum in the pick of the bouts. The Main Card also sees Israel Adesanya take on Anderson Silva in the Middleweight class, Rani Yahya face off against Ricky Simon in the Bantamweight division, Jim Crute lock horns with Sam Alvey in the Light Heavyweight category and Montana De La Rosa fight Nadia Kassem in the Women’s Flyweight.
Robert Whittaker takes on Kelvin Gastelum in UFC 234 as he attempts to defend his UFC Middleweight title at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The temperature will be hot outside, but even hotter inside the arena as two of UFC Goliath’s stand toe-to-toe in a battle on UFC fight night.
The main fight of UFC 234 is, without a doubt, the UFC Middleweight title bout of Robert Whittaker versus Kelvin Gastelum that Whittaker is a substantial favorite to win.
Whittaker, known as The Reaper, is the current Middleweight champion and is currently ranked number 12 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings, making him a formidable opponent.
Gastelum is giving up two inches in reach, four inches in leg reach and three inches in height. These figures put Gastelum at a distinct disadvantage although he is ranked fourth in the Middleweight division so is not to be underestimated.
UFC news reported that Whittaker has a 20-4 record in UFC bouts and has won all of his last nine bouts, including back-to-back victories over Yoel Romero.
The first of those victories won Whittaker the UFC Middleweight title with the second meant to be a title defense but Romero missed the weight. Four of Whittaker’s last wins have come from KO or TKO with the rest being via decision.
Gastelum does have a fighting chance of victory, although the odds are stacked against him. His 15-3 record only tells half a story as he has lost all three of those fights in his last nine bouts, plus he has a no contest against his name after he tested positive for a marijuana metabolite.
He only has one victory by KO and five more by TKO so his best chance of victory would be by submission despite the fact Whittaker has only ever submitted once, during his eighth fight with Hoon Kim in October 2011.
The bookmakers make Whittaker a substantial favorite at -250 and it is difficult to see past any other result that a successful title defence for the New Zealander. Gastelum, number four in the middleweight class, is a talented fighter, but one whose recent form of 3-1-1 makes the smart money go on Whittaker.
Four of Gastelum’s last seven fights have been Fight of the Night or Performance of the Night, so fans of UFC should be in for a fantastic battle, a battle that Whittaker should win within five rounds.
Whittaker lands almost one more significant strike per minute compared to Gastelum, has a slightly better defense and manages to defend more than 84% of takedowns. If you are going to bet on UFC 234, put your money on a Whittaker victory at -250.