The middleweight division will be in the spotlight at UFC Vegas 24.
Specifically, Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum will be. Gastelum is stepping up to fill in for Paulo Costa against the former champ, in a rather interesting 185lb match-up.
Both men has a history with current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Whittaker, of course, is the former king of the weight class, who lost his belt to “The Last Stylebender.” Since that fateful night, he has won two straight — and a third win could put “The Reaper” right back in the octagon with Adesanya.
Gastelum met Adesanya while the latter was on his way to the top, with the pair competing for an interim title in what turned out to be Fight of the Night at UFC 236, and a Fight of the Year candidate. While a win over Whittaker would be big, it would also be just his second in a row after a three-fight skid — making a title fight a tougher sell, though not out of the question.
Either way, the UFC Vegas 24 main event promised to be a good one. Weigh-ins for the event took place Friday — check below for results.
Zarah Fairn was the biggest miss Friday, coming in at 147lbs for a bout that was originally booked at bantamweight, against Josiane Nunes. A UFC.com update then listed the bout at a 139lb catchweight, meaning Fairn, who was 11lbs past the bantamweight limit, still missed weight by 8lbs.
UFC Vegas 24: Whittaker vs. Gastelum Weigh-In Results
Main Card
Middleweight: Robert Whittaker (185.5) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (185)
Lightweight: Jeremy Stephens (156) vs. Drakkar Klose (156)
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski (250.5) vs. Chase Sherman (251)
Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan (185.5) vs. Jacob Malkoun (185.5)
Lightweight: Luis Peña (155) vs. Alexander Munoz (155.5)
Preliminary Card
Women’s Flyweight: Tracy Cortez (126.5)** vs. Justine Kish (125.5)
Heavyweight: Alexander Romanov (264) vs. Juan Espino (257)
Women’s Strawweight: Jessica Penne (116) vs. Lupita Godinez (116)
Middleweight: Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bartosz Fabiński (184.5)
Bantamweight: Tony Gravely (135.5) vs. Anthony Birchak (135.5)
Women’s Bantamweight: Zarah Fairn Dos Santos (147)* vs. Josiane Nunes (136)
Lightweight bout: Austin Hubbard (156) vs. Dakota Bush (155.5)
* Fairn missed the bantamweight limit by 11lbs. A UFC.com update lists the bout as a 139lb catchweight, with Fairn missing that by 8lbs. The bout was subsequently cancelled.
** Cortez missed the flyweight limit by 0.5lbs
