Kelvin Gastelum is once again filling in for Paulo Costa and will be facing Jared Cannonier on August 21.
According to an ESPN report late Friday, Paulo Costa has withdrawn from his fight against Jared Cannonier slated for Aug. 21, and his unidentical stunt double, Kelvin Gastelum, will step in for him once again. There is no word yet on what prompted Costa’s withdrawal.
Costa recently pulled out of a fight against Robert Whittaker earlier this year, and Gastelum stepped up to give fans the UFC 234 main event that never was. The #9-ranked Gastelum will once again seize a grand opportunity here against a top-5 opponent in Jared Cannonier.
It wasn’t long ago that #4-ranked middleweight Jared Cannonier was one fight away from challenging Israel Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title. Unfortunately for the “Killa Gorilla,” the aforementioned Robert Whittaker stood in his way. Both Cannonier and Gastelum will look to rebound from their date with The Reaper in this summer showdown.
With this main event, the current lineup for the August 21 Fight Night card is as follows.
Jared Cannonier vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval
Clay Guida vs. Mark Madsen
Brian Kelleher vs. Domingo Pilarte
Jesse Strader vs. Mana Martinez
Fabio Cherant vs. William Knight
Austin Hubbard vs. Vinc Pichel
Austin Lingo vs. Luis Saldana
Chase Sherman vs. Parker Porter
Bea Malecki vs. Josiane Nunes
Brian Kelleher vs. Domingo Pilarte
Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Sasha Palatnikov
Who’s your pick to win the new August 28 main event?
