A middleweight fight between Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Curtis has been announced for UFC 287 on April 8th at a location still to be confirmed.
Gastelum had originally been scheduled to fight Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of the UFC’s first event of the year on January 14th, but he had to withdraw during fight week due to requiring dental work as the result of a training room accident, leading to Sean Strickland replacing him.
The 31-year-old Gastelum will come into this newly announced fight in serious need of a win, having lost four of his last five fights, suffering decision losses against some of the division’s top talents, including Jared Cannonier, Robert Whittaker, Jack Hermansson and Darren Till over the past few years.
Now he’s going up against the 35-year-old Curtis, who has so far gone 4-1 since joining the UFC in 2021 and will reach the 40-fight mark in his pro-career at UFC 287.
Curtis has beaten the likes of Phil Hawes, Brendan Allen, Rodolfo Vieira along the way and most recently KO’d Joaquin Buckley at UFC in December to take the No.14 spot on the UFC’s 185lb rankings, one place below Gastelum.
Gastelum vs. Curtis lands on a UFC 287 card that still remains without a main or co-main event, but also features Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez, Michelle Waterson vs. Luana Pinheiro and Raul Rosas Jr vs. Christian Rodriguez.
