Dricus Du Plessis has stepped up and will be sharing the Octagon with Kelvin Gastelum.
Gastelum was expected to take on Nassourdine Imavov on the UFC 273 card set for April 9. Imavov ended up being forced out of the event due to visa issues. Du Plessis, who was initially going to fight Anthony Hernandez, will now be facing Gastelum. Here’s the report from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto:
Nassourdine Imavov out … Dricus Du Plessis (@dricusduplessis) will replace him against Gastelum next week in Jacksonville, per sources. Du Plessis was scheduled to fight on the card against Anthony Hernandez. https://t.co/rvS8kR6RcL
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 29, 2022
“Nassourdine Imavov out … Dricus Du Plessis (@dricusduplessis) will replace him against Gastelum next week in Jacksonville, per sources. Du Plessis was scheduled to fight on the card against Anthony Hernandez.”
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Gastelum goes into this fight on a two-fight skid. He’s gone 1-5 in his last six outings. In his most recent bout back in Aug. 2021, he was defeated by Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision. Gastelum’s back is certainly against the wall here and he’ll look to turn things around.
As for Du Plessis, he’s been on the rise in his pro MMA career. He is riding a four-fight winning streak. His pro MMA record is 16-2. His last defeat occurred back in Oct. 2018. A win over Gastelum would be the biggest in Du Plessis’ UFC run.
UFC 273 will be headlined by a UFC Featherweight Championship bout between titleholder Alex Volkanovski and the “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. In the co-main event, UFC Bantamweight Titleholder Aljamain Sterling puts his gold on the line in a rematch with Petr Yan. Also featured on the card will be a welterweight clash between Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns.
Stick with Middle Easy for extensive coverage of UFC 273.
