Kelvin Gastelum has revealed that an injury he suffered in training has forced him out of his fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC Fight Night 225 on September 16th, and he has the video footage to prove it.
“Unfortunate news, my fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov is off,” Gastelum stated in a video post on Twitter. “I received an elbow that resulted in an open fracture and a few bones came out fractured. I have to apologize to everybody who was excited about this fight. I apologize to everybody. I apologize to Shavkat Rakhmonov and his team. I feel bad. I feel very horrible about this unfortunate incident.
“I’ll be back. I’m still going to continue training. I can still do my strength and conditioning training, movement, I can still do a lot of my training… I asked to move it up to November. Hopefully they will grant me this wish. That will be Nov. 11 in Madison Square Garden. It’s hard to be a Kelvin Gastelum fan sometimes, I know. We go through ups and downs together, but I promise we’re fighting to get back on the horse and get back on that winning streak and continue it.”
Along with the video Gastelum showed footage of the sparring session that caused the injury, with his training partner not taking any prisoners as he threw a head kick that just whistled over Gastelum’s head, before following up with a spinning elbow that landed to his nose.
So it’s clear that Gastelum’s reason for backing out of the fight is legit, but his intended opponent Rakhmonov doesn’t appear to have too much sympathy and instead is eager to ensure that the match-up still remains intact at a later date.
“Pinata, I agreed to fight you on your territory on Mexican Independence Day in arena full of your supporters and it’s not my problem you can’t do it now,” Rakhmonov told Gastelum on Twitter. “It’s your turn to accept to fight me on my territory in Abu Dhabi at UFC 294! Or did you realize it was bad idea just now?”
The 31-year-old Gastelum picked up only his 2nd win in his last 7 fights when he beat Chris Curtis by unanimous decision back in April and then announced that he was dropping back down to welterweight for his next fight.
As for Rakhmonov, he’s become a major player in the 170lb division, after extending his unbeaten record to 17-0 with five wins in a row inside the Octagon so far.
Breaking news 🚨
Unfortunately I received an injury and my fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov off/delayed
Full video on my YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/NXxvHjU54U— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 1, 2023
