„One of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen
in my life.“ -Dana White@KelvinGastelum
vs @Stylebender
is the newest inductee to the
#UFCHOF Fight Wing 👏 pic.twitter.com/YQIbgwNiNC— UFC (@ufc)
February 9, 2025
The middleweight classic between Israel
Adesanya and Kelvin
Gastelum will be the latest inductee into the
UFC Hall of Fame’s “Fight Wing.”
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The promotion announced the news during UFC 312
on Saturday night. Adesanya and Gastelum squared off in an interim
title bout at UFC
236 on April 13, 2019. While “The Last Stylebender” ultimately
prevailed in a five-round unanimous decision, Gastelum gave
Adesanya the most difficulty of any opponent up to that point in
his UFC tenure. When all was said and done, Adesanya was credited
with four knockdowns in the bout — including three in the final
stanza. The Nigerian-born Kiwi would go on to unify the 185-pound
belt with a second-round KO of Robert
Whittaker in his next outing at UFC 243.
“The fight between Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236
was one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen in my life,” UFC CEO
Dana White said. “This was an absolute war with the interim title
on the line. Congrats to Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum on a
fight that will always be remembered!”
Adesanya vs. Gastelum was also selected as Sherdog’s „Fight of the Year” for 2019.
“In that fifth round, I found something deep,” Adesanya said after
the victory. “I went to another level. I’ve trained for this, but I
found another level. That darkness. I was thinking, we are going to
die right here; you and me. He’s a tough dude, but he couldn’t put
me away.”
The 2025 UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place this
summer in Las Vegas and will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass.