— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum)
April 2, 2022
Shortly after the promotion scrambled to find him a replacement
opponent, an injury has forced Kelvin
Gastelum to withdraw from UFC
273.
UFC officials recently
announced Gastelum’s exit, but the nature of his injury was not
disclosed. Du Plessis will not remain on the card.
“I wish it was an April Fool’s joke,” Gastelum said in a video on
Twitter. “I wish this didn’t happen, but it did, and unfortunately,
I have to withdraw from the fight. I was advised not to disclose
the injury, but just know, I am compromised, and I can’t and won’t
be heading into the fight compromised the way that I am.”
Gastelum was originally slated to face Nassourdine
Imavov at the event before visa issues forced Imavov off the
card. As a result, Du Plessis was pulled from a matchup against
Anthony
Hernandez and lined up as a replacement foe for Gastelum.
“I’ve just got to say sorry to Dricus that I have to pull out this
way. You were our last hope to stay on the card, and I was so
thankful that you accepted the fight,” Gastelum said to Du Plessis.
“But I’m sorry.”
UFC 273 takes place on April 9 at Vystar Veteran’s Memorial Arena
in Jacksonville, Fla., and is headlined by a featherweight title
tilt between Alexander
Volkanovski and Chan Sung
Jung. In the co-main event, Aljamain
Sterling will square off agianst Petr Yan in a
bantamweight championship unification bout.