Michael Bisping Criticizes Kelvin Gastelum's 'Cringe' Antics at UFC 234

After Robert Whittaker was forced to pull out of the main event at UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia due to a hernia issue, his opponent Kelvin Gastelum sent out a classy statement wishing the champ a fast recovery. Gastelum didn’t end up fighting on the card but was an interested observer cageside, with a UFC belt draped over his shoulder.

The 27-year-old had borrowed the belt from UFC flyweight king Henry Cejudo for the event but made sure he told everyone that since Whittaker was out of the fight it made him the champion. Some fans saw the funny side to it but former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping had a different view.

On the latest episode of his “Believe You Me” podcast, Bisping said that Gastelum’s actions were “a little bit cringe” as everyone was aware that Whittaker was still the champion (transcribed by MMA News):

“Kelvin said, ‘well Robert pulled out so therefore that makes me the champion.’ I get it, that’s a funny little tweet. It’s a funny thing to do to stand there and pose with the belt on and put it on Instagram. It’s funny for a minute, but he literally stood there all night with Henry Cejudo’s championship belt over his shoulder. At that point I was like, “come on Kelvin, man.” It’s a little bit cringe, a little bit cringe. We get it, the joke was funny for a second but take the belt off because you aren’t actually the champion. Everybody knows that.”