Kelvin Gastelum ‘Dumbfounded’ by Dana White’s Comments at UFC 225

Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White told reporters at the post-fight press conference at UFC 225 that middleweight fighter Kelvin Gastelum has “personal issues” that he needs to get sorted out.

White was referring to Gastelum’s decision to turn down the opportunity as a replacement for Yoel Romero if he was to miss weight in his middleweight title fight against Robert Whittaker.

Gastelum told the new host of “The MMA Hour,” Luke Thomas, on Monday’s edition of the show that he was “dumbfounded” by the comments from White regarding the situation.

“I was dumbfounded,” Gastelum said. “Because I don’t know where those comments are coming from. I just figured he was upset over me not taking the fight a day-and-a-half before.”

Romero missed weight for the fight making him ineligible for the belt and went on to lose to Whittaker by a close split decision.

Gastelum said he had been in negotiations with the UFC as a contingency in case Romero couldn’t make the fight but things didn’t work out.

“My manager was negotiating money to get from that,” Gastelum said. “I wasn’t gonna be doing it for free. That fell through. So they told me that’s not happening.”

Gastelum told Thomas he received a phone call from the UFC on Wednesday in the lead up to the fight as there were already concerns Romero could potentially miss weight or not be able to fight. Gastelum said once he actually received the call to step in he was already on vacation in Cancun drinking alcohol and eating and was not in shape for the fight.

“I looked down at my belly and I’m like, ‘No, I don’t think I can do this in a day and a half,’” Gastelum said with a laugh. … “In a day and a half’s notice while I’ve been out drinking and eating, I probably would have been in the hospital if I would have tried that.”

Gastelum believes Romero had done enough in the fight against Whittaker and was surprised when Bruce Buffer read out the Australian’s name.

“I thought Romero would have been getting the nod, but obviously he didn’t,” Gastelum said. “And selfishly I thought, I was hoping they’d give it to Whittaker. Just because Romero had missed weight, he wouldn’t have been getting the belt and then it just would have created this whole scenario where I’m definitely not getting the next shot. It just wouldn’t be a position where I would be fighting for a title any time soon.”

Gastelum (15-3, 1 NC) last fought inside the Octagon at UFC 224, defeating the very tough Ronaldo Souza by split decision and is now focused on getting a title shot against Whittaker.

The matchup however may hinge on his relationship with White and Gastelum said he wants to chat with the president about his post-UFC 225 comments to see where he stands.

“I would love to sit down and see what those comments are about,” Gastelum said. “I just haven’t reached out to him about it. Eventually, I want to sit down with him and talk to him and meet with him and see what the future holds.”