Gastelum vs. Hermansson agreed for ‘Fight Island’ on July 18th
Gastelum will look to end his two-fight losing streak this summer.
Ask and you shall receive.
UFC middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum wanted to make his 2020 debut against Jack Hermansson, and that will be his next opponent. ESPN reported the news on Wednesday, with MMA Fighting adding that “Fight Island” is the likely destination for this July 18th event.
Gastelum (15-5-1 NC) had a winless 2019, having come up just short in his thrilling interim title bout with Israel Adesanya UFC 236, followed by a very lackluster split decision defeat to Darren Till at UFC 244. After testing positive for marijuana yet again, Gastelum received a reduced USADA suspension after completing a drug treatment program. His most recent win was a split decision over Ronaldo Souza at UFC 224 in May 2018.
Hermansson (20-5) had his impressive four-fight winning streak end in a TKO loss to Jared Cannonier in last September’s UFC Copenhagen main event. The Swede, who lives and fights out of Norway, was scheduled for a May headliner vs. former champ Chris Weidman, but the COVID-19 pandemic obviously nixed that. He’ll look to return to the form that saw him dispatch the likes of Ronaldo Souza and Gerald Meerschaert on his way up the 185 lbs rankings.
No main event has been announced, but July 18th is the targeted date for the men’s flyweight title rematch between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo.