Kelvin Gastelum on Khabib-McGregor Feud: ‘Somebody Is Going to End up Getting Hurt or Shot’

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Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum returns to the Octagon next weekend at UFC 236 to take on Israel Adesanya for the interim UFC middleweight title. Gastelum was previously scheduled to face the champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 234 before the Aussie was forced to withdraw from the fight to undergo emergency surgery.

Gastelum was at a media event on Thursday promoting his upcoming title shot and was asked by reporters about his thoughts on the current feud between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Their controversial Twitter exchange has been labeled by UFC President Dana White as “unacceptable.”

Gastelum said both fighters have been reckless. “I think there are some lines that shouldn’t be crossed,” Gastelum told MMAJunkie.com. “This rivalry that’s going on right now is escalating to a point where it shouldn’t have to, you know what I mean? I feel like if it keeps escalating the way it is, somebody is going to end up getting hurt or shot, or something. I truly believe that.”

Gastelum has played the role of a villain before and is no stranger to promoting a fight. In the aftermath of his canceled fight against Whittaker, he paraded around the Octagon with Henry Cejudo’s belt draped over his shoulder and claimed he was the champion.

However, it was all in jest. To the middleweight title challenger, this latest Twitter exchange crosses the line as it enters areas of the fighter’s personal lives that should be off-limits as far as trash talking is concerned. “You shouldn’t mess with people’s wives,” said Gastelum. “You shouldn’t mess with people’s lives or their religion, absolutely.”