Kelvin Gastelum was supposed to challenge UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker for the gold at UFC 234, but Whittaker was fulled to pull out of the bout due to a severe abdominal issue that required surgery.
Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor took some shots at Gastelum and the fighter’s skin condition at the event, which has caused Gastelum to say that McGregor is spreading his brand of disease throughout the country of Ireland.
“Oh my god, you want to talk about a leper?” Gastelum said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via MMA Fighting). “A guy that’s full of disease that’s spreading disease all over Ireland? That’s Conor McGregor. He’s spreading his seed all over Ireland, impregnating ladies and not claiming them. That dude’s a leper. Forget him.”
McGregor also took shots at Gastelum for parading around the event with a title belt, despite the fact that Gastelum isn’t a champion.
Gastelum admits that he did have a skin infection leading into the event, but the UFC was aware and the situation was being taken care of.
“I was fighting this staph infection on my face, on my body, the entire week,” Gastelum said. “I was on antibiotics the entire week fighting this thing. The UFC doctors were gracious and handling it well and they were real happy with how the infection on my skin was going away and it’d be okay to fight. The commission was okay with letting me fight. Everything was on track, man. It was just devastating. To go through all that process, to go through all that work and not be able to fight and compete, man, it was horrible. I feel lost right now. I come home, I didn’t get to fight, I didn’t get to compete, I have all this built up energy that I didn’t use and it’s an empty feeling, that’s for sure. It’s a lost feeling. I don’t know where to go from here.”
There is no word as to when Gastelum and Whittaker will have their bout rescheduled or how long it will take Gastelum to fully heal from the infection.
