Michael Bisping Surprised By Cause Of Kelvin Gastelum’s Mouth Injury

Michael Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion, discussed Kelvin Gastelum’s withdrawal from their scheduled match at UFC Fight Night 217, the first event on the UFC’s 2023 calendar. Main event contenders Kelvin Gastelum and rising middleweight prospect Nasourdin Imavov were set to square off.

Gastelum, however, had to withdraw due to a mouth injury, which Bisping assumed occurred during sparring. A middleweight bout between Imavov and Sean Strickland has been moved to the lighter 205-pound division (185 lbs).

Michael Bisping has claimed that sparring the week before a bout is counterproductive, and that fighters should instead focus on making weight.

Bisping’s response to Kelvin Gastelum’s withdrawal can be found starting at 3:29.

Take it from the former UFC middleweight champion:

“I mean, really, what else could one possibly add to that? I mean, he got hurt, as I mentioned; maybe it was from sparring. I mean, [he] shouldn’t be sparring five days before the fight. The last week of summer camp is when everything changes. It’s fight week, therefore this week is all about cutting calories, right? Making weight, psychologically preparing, giving the body time to rest and recuperate, and maintaining peak physical and mental performance are all essential. Certainly, sparring is not something you should be doing.”

Bisping went on to expound on the quality of the rescheduled main event, claiming that neither Nasourdin Imavov nor Sean Strickland would have to go to the trouble of reducing weight much or at all. He went so far as to suggest we could be in for a better fight than was originally planned.