A middleweight clash between Kelvin Gastelum and Jack Hermansson has been agreed for the upcoming UFC Fight Night card on July 18 with the show expected to take place on “Fight Island.”
Multiple sources confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting on Wednesday following an initial report from ESPN.
Gastelum will be making his return to action after recovering from a full LCL tear in his knee that required the former title contender to take some time off. He told MMA Fighting in early May that he was targeting a return in July after suffering back-to-back losses to Israel Adesanya and Darren Till in consecutive fights.
Gastelum will even get the opponent he requested.
“In my opinion, a fight with Jack Hermansson would make sense,” Gastelum said at the time. “We’re both coming off losses. He’s in the top-five. A win for either of us would take us where we need to go.”
As for Hermansson, he’s coming off a loss to Jared Cannonier in his last appearance from September 2019, which snapped his four-fight win streak. Hermansson was originally scheduled to face former middleweight champion Chris Weidman in May but that card was eventually scrapped due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Now Hermansson will make his return in July instead as he faces off with Gastelum in a pivotal bout at 185 pounds.
Source: mmafighting.com
