Kelvin Gastelum has taken out a number of big-name fighters recently, but nevertheless, when he called out one of the all-time-greats, Anderson Silva, for his next Octagon encounter, he didn’t expect that it would actually happen.
“I thought it was going to be a problem,” Gastelum told Ariel Helwani on the latest edition of ‘The MMA Hour’ show. “I didn’t think he was going to sign it. The next thing I know is he’s posting this video of him signing it.
“All respect to him. I didn’t think he was actually going to go on and take the fight. I’m just very thankful for the opportunity to be able to fight him. He’s the greatest of all time and deserves all the respect in the world. But once that cage door closes, I expect the same results that I had with Vitor.”
The 25-year-old’s recent three-fight winning streak has been impressive, beginning with a decision win over former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, then sending Tim Kennedy into retirement at middleweight by TKO, and following on from that by stopping Vitor Belfort by strikes in less than a round.
As big as those wins were, Gastelum think his upcoming fight with Silva at UFC 212 in June will be his biggest yet.
“It’s kind of a big deal. I thought the Vitor Belfort fight was big. This is a whole another level,” he said. “I’m fighting the greatest of all time. It’s like fighting Mike Tyson. It’s insane.”
