The Wait is Over: After 2 Years Whittaker vs Gastelum is Set

With just under a month before the fight between Robert Whittaker and Paulo Costa was supposed to happen, Costa came down with a serious flu that sidelined him. He had already suffered through Covid-19 and had continued to train. This may have caused the flu to take a more major effect on him.

So in steps Kelvin Gastelum, which just might turn out to be a better thing for Whittaker. Fighting the 8th ranked instead of the 2nd definitely increases the odds of winning.

Some people forget that Whittaker was supposed to face Gastelum 2 years ago in a Middleweight title match. Whittaker, however, had to withdraw due to a hernia he suffered the day of the fight. Back then Whittaker was favored to win with odds of -270, and this time around it’s pretty much the same ranging from -240 to -260.

He was still favored to win against Costa, but only with the odds of -150, now the odds have almost doubled in his favor. Either way a win for Whittaker will almost certainly get him a shot with Israel Adesanya to regain his title.

The odds on Gastelum winning stand at +205, dropping from the +190 last time around. Even still he is no slouch and should not be taken lightly being ranked #8. With a win over Whitaker, he still won’t get a title shot, that will take another win or two. It will, however, show that he probably would have been middleweight champ if the original fight had taken place. 

Regardless of what the oddsmakers say, this fight shapes up to be a good one. Gastelum having something to prove and Whittaker looking ahead to the title re-match, will spark a fire under both of them.