George St-Pierre meddelade nyligen att han lämnar ifrån sig sitt mellanviktbälte på grund av sjukdom. Interimmästaren Robert Whittaker stod således utan motståndare inför UFC 221. Valet på ersättare föll slutligen på Luke Rockhold. Kelvin Gastelum uttryckte sitt missnöje med beslutet och menade att Robert Whittaker valde den ”enkla matchen”.
I en intervju med Submission Radio bemöter Luke Rockhold Gastelums kommentarer:
I know I’ve proven myself, I’ve accomplished things in this sport, whereas little m**gets like Kelvin Gastelum haven’t. I’ve destroyed Chris Weidman, which he got destroyed by Weidman, so it’s like ehh [shrugs]. This kid hasn’t beaten really anybody and done anything in this sport, and for him to run his mouth, it’s pretty funny. It’s laughable. He’ll find out real if he continues his efforts at 185. I’d slap that kid down real quick. Real quick.
Rockhold säger att en match mot Gastelum kan bli aktuell i framtiden, men att det nu är dags att skapa ordning i divisionen. Han anser att en match mellan honom och Whittaker skulle göra just det.
Whittaker’s been the champ for a long time, so he’s the goal, of course. The best is always the goal, being on top is the goal and Whittaker’s proved himself for a long time now. He’s been on top, he’s beaten all the top guys, he’s the man. . . I wanna fight Whittaker, I want to fight the best. It would’ve been – I’m a realist, and I know that neither [Georges St-Pierre nor Michael Bisping], win or lose, would fight any of us. They’re both gonna try and run off, ride off into the sunset and not fight the fight. I respect Whittaker for stepping up and fighting me. I know he had options to take a lesser opponent, the fans wanted this and this is what it is. He’s a true champion, he’s gonna fight the No. 1 contenders.
Enligt Rockhold är han och Whittaker de två bästa mellanviktarna i UFC för närvarande. Rockhold, som länge tillhört American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), har nyligen börjat träna med Henri Hooft i Florida. Han motiverar flytten med att han vill maximera sin potential som fighter.
No I haven’t been [back to AKA]. I did my last camp in Florida with Henri and the whole team out there, and I’ve got a great thing going. You know, I got complacent back home and did some things. It’s nice to just get away, get a clear head and have nothing to hold me back in a new environment. I’m inspired, I got a lot of good people around me. You know, AKA’s not what it used to be. Like, you get guys filtering in and out, but, I mean, Cain’s [Velasquez] been injured, Khabib’s [Nurmagomedov] always in Russia, DC’s [Daniel Cormier] doing TV. I gotta look out for myself. I love my brothers and my team out there and you’ll see a lot of them in my corner I’m sure, but this is time to be the best I can be and think about myself right now.
Matchen om mellanviktstiteln, mellan Robert Whittaker och Luke Rockhold, kommer att äga rum den elfte februari i Perth.
