Neither man has even finished their fighting careers, but Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum are headed to the UFC Hall of Fame.
During Saturday’s UFC 312 broadcast, promotion officials announced that Adesanya vs. Gastelum, which took place at UFC 236 in Atlanta, Georgia on April 13, 2019, was headed to the Hall’s Fight Wing as part of the Class of 2025.
Adesanya was on hand at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia when the honor was announced.
The 2019 middleweight fight went the full five rounds, and resulted in Adesanya winning gold for the first time in his UFC career – in the form of an interim title. He’d go on to unify the promotion’s 185lb title when he faced Robert Whittaker that October, and from there become one of mixed martial arts’ biggest stars.
Gastelum, the other half of the Hall of Fame-worthy fight, won The Ultimate Fighter 17 as a middleweight in 2013. His UFC career has been a bit of a roller coaster, with well documented weight struggles forcing him back to 185lbs after a stint at welterweight. Despite that, as recently as June, Gastelum was seen earning a win over Daniel “D-Rod” Rodriguez.
Both men remain active in the UFC ranks, with Israel Adesanya falling to Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
