Kelvin Gastelum releases first statement since UFC 236 battle with Israel Adesanya

Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya put on an all-timer at UFC 236 this past weekend and even though it was Adesanya who came out on top in the interim middleweight title bout, Gastelum has maintained his cheery disposition and is already looking ahead to the future.

The 27-year-old provided an update on his status late Sunday evening and offered praise to Adesanya, who later reciprocated.

“Can’t thank everyone enough for the love and support in the last 24 hrs! Gonna get my body and face healed up! I’ll only get better from this! God bless everyone. Mission 4 Gold continues!!” Gastelum wrote, later adding, “I left it all out there. [Adesanya] was the better man last night ! Congratulations to him. I know our paths will cross again! This setback as well as all my other setbacks have made me a better person and mixed martial artist. I’m so excited for the future.”

Gastelum also sent out a message via an Instagram story, expressing more positivity and gratitude to his fans.

“Hey guys, just got home from Atlanta safe and sound,” Gastelum said. “After the fight, I went to the hospital, got stitched up, got pain medication, because I’m in pain pretty good. Israel put a good beating on me. I hope you guys liked the fight. We either win or we learn, and I feel like I learned so much in this fight. We’re only going to get better, I’m only going to come back stronger. And make the things that I did wrong, we’re going to make them right. For the next few fights you’ll see the results. So thank you everybody for the awesome messages, the support has been amazing, each and every one of you.

“I might not get back to all of you guys, but I’m reading them all, so I appreciate that. I hope everyone has a good night and I’ll see you around. I’m not one to dwell too much on negative, I’m going to keep my head up high, have a smile on and keep going forward.”

On Saturday in Atlanta, Adesanya and Gastelum engaged in one of the most hotly contested fights of the year, keeping a non-stop pace for five rounds with both men absorbing a significant amount of punishment. “The Last Stylebender” thanked Gastelum for the fight, particularly the fifth round, which he called “legendary shit.”

“It came down to the wire... we both put in on for the culture of fighting,” Adesanya wrote. “You know me and I know you now, this is the fights movies are made of, that fifth round was some legendary shit. It was only possible cuz I had a man as tough as Kelvin Gastelum to dance with. So thank you KG.”