Kelvin Gastelum releases statement on UFC 273 withdrawal: ‘I am compromised’

Kelvin Gastelum has released a statement about his withdrawal from UFC 273.

The one-time interim UFC middleweight title challenger apologized to fans and his scheduled opponent for bowing out of UFC 273, posting a video on Twitter where he said he was “compromised” and unable to fight.

“I wish it was an April Fool’s joke,” said Gastelum, whose withdrawal was announced by the UFC on Friday, April 1. “I wish this didn’t happen, but it did, and unfortunately, I have to withdraw from the fight.

” I was told not to reveal the injury. But just know that I’m compromised and can’t or will be going into the fight with my injuries the same way I’m .”

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Gastelum originally was scheduled to meet Nassourdine Imavov at the April 9 pay-per-view event, which takes place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. He sought to reverse a 1-5 skid against top competition including current champ Israel Adesanya, whose decision win at UFC 236 in 2019 started his slide.

Du Plessis’ cancellation of the booking was his fourth disappointment. The South African prospect burst onto the scene in 2009 with two knockout victories in the Octagon.

“You were our last hope to stay on the card, and I was so thankful that you accepted the fight,” Gastelum told his would-be foe. “But I’m sorry.”

Gastelum did not reveal a timetable for his recovery but said he is still committed to winning a UFC title.

” “It’s going be worth the journey, guys,” he stated. “It’s going to be one hell of a book once it’s all done and finished. It’s not over, but I am far from done. … I truly believe that we can get the job done. If it wasn’t true, I would not say it .”

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UFC 273 is headlined by a pair of title fights: Alexander Volkanovski defends his featherweight crowd against The Korean Zombie and bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling faces interim champ Petr Yan. As of this writing, there are 13 bouts on the fight card.

Check out Gastelum’s complete video.