Kelvin Gastelum has made quite the prediction for the upcoming undisputed UFC featherweight title clash between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez.
Volkanovski is the reigning 145-pound titleholder, while “El Pantera” holds the interim gold. The two will collide in a title unification bout at UFC 290 on July 8. As of now, Rodriguez is a +330 betting underdog, per Bovada. Despite this, Gastelum believes fans will be in for a big surprise when UFC 290 comes to a close.
Kelvin Gastelum Predicts Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez
Taking to his official YouTube channel, Kelvin Gastelum revealed that he’s picking Rodriguez to defeat Volkanovski, and he doesn’t think it will look competitive.
“I’m not saying this is gonna be easy, I just think Yair’s gonna make it look easy,” Gastelum said. “I hesitated in saying that just because I know it sounds crazy, but I think Yair is gonna make it look easy. I’m not saying it is easy, I’m sure he’s working his freaking ass off right now so that on July 8th he comes out on top as the undisputed featherweight champion of the world and I think he’ll do it.”
How Yair Gets it Done
Gastelum was asked how he thinks Rodriguez will be able to shock the world on fight night. The former interim title challenger explained that he feels Rodriguez will be one step ahead of Volkanovski.
“I just think Yair will be able to capitalize on little deficiencies that Alex might have,” Gastelum said. “Maybe he’s just a little bit faster, maybe he’s able to catch him because of it, maybe he’s just a little bit more flexible, maybe he’s just a little more elusive and he won’t see a kick coming.”
As far as how the fight ends, Gastelum believes Rodriguez will close the show in spectacular fashion
“In my head, I could be wrong, in my head I see Yair winning by a knockout with a kick,” Gastelum said.
