#2 Ranked Paulo Costa was supposedly booked to face #1 Ranked Robert Whittaker to headline UFC FN 188, but it is now revealed that he is pulling out due to sickness. Both fighter’s last loss was against the current champion, and they were the clear number 1 and number 2 ranked middleweight contenders.

Some reports revealed that even though the fight is still far, Costa is so ill that he could not train. It was later revealed that Costa hasn’t fully recovered from the COVID. Such a shame we could not see the fight but Costa’s health is of top priority.

Whittaker then wanted a shot for the title, since he is the most deserving among all contenders.

He is currently riding on a two fight win-streak and it was against Darren Till and Jared Cannonier. It is also worth noting that Whittaker only has one loss in the division and has beaten Romero twice to top it all off.

But the UFC gave another opponent for Whittaker and it is his supposed title challenger, Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker and Gastelum go way back, they had the Ultimate fighter series that led to them fighting for the title but at the last second, Whittaker pulled out of the fight.

Now, they can answer the “what could have been fight” since the UFC has booked Kelvin Gastelum as a short notice replacement against Whittaker. Gastelum was on a losing skid after the Adesanya fight but has bounced back with a win against Ian Heinisch.Although Gastelum was on a losing skid, he was also the opponent that gave Adesanya the most trouble in their 5 round war. Gastelum had moments where he got Adesanya hurt especially on the fourth round where he landed a head-kick that made Adesanya back pedal.

 

Whittaker could also benefit from this fight by learning a few tricks against Gastelum. He also needs to stay active to avoid any ring rust, if he ever wants to have a second shot against Adesanya. Whittaker certainly has all the tools to beat Adesanya, he could use his wrestling more just like Blachowicz did. He just had the wrong game plan on their first encounter.

Whoever wins the fight will likely face the champion. Although Adesanya has a win over them and has shown no interests of rematch, he did indicate that the only fighter he wants to face would be Darren Till. But he can’t deny that Whittaker deserves the title shot more since Whittaker just beat Till.

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