The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum recently announced he was fighting at UFC 287 on April 8, 2023 — and the match-up looks like a good one.
Gastelum (16-8, 1NC), who revealed the date of his next fight on his Instagram Story, will face Chris Curtis (30-9) at the PPV event.
MMA Mania was first to report news of the booking.
Gastelum had been expected to headline the first UFC event of 2023 earlier this month, against French middleweight Nassourdine Imavov. After sustaining a mouth injury during fight week, however, he was forced out of the event.
Having lost two straight and five of his last six, the TUF champ finds himself badly in need of a win. His only victory since 2018 was a decision win over Ian Heinisch in 2021. Gastelum has suffered losses to Darren Till, Jack Hermansson, Robert Whittaker, and Jared Cannonier in that same span, as well as losing to Israel Adesanya in an interim title fight to kick off that rough patch.
Curtis got back in the win column at UFC 282 in December, knocking out Joaquin Buckley. A longtime veteran of the regional scene before finally getting the call to the UFC, Curtis is 4-1 with the promotion so far, and has quickly become a fan favorite.
No location, venue, or broadcast plan has been announced for UFC 287 on April 8; the following match-ups have been reported for the event so far:
- Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez
- Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lupita Godinez
- Michelle Waterson vs. Luana Pinheiro
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Nikolas Motta
- Raul Rosas Jr vs. Christian Rodriquez
- Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Steve Garcia
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Chris Curtis
