Kelvin Gastelum has been undefeated in the middleweight division and he will be fighting former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 212.
While Gastelum did challenge Silva to the fight, in the end, he was surprised that the former champion accepted.
“I thought it was going to be a problem,” Gastelum said on The MMA Hour. “I didn’t think he was going to sign it. The next thing I know is he’s posting this video of him signing it. All respect to him. I didn’t think he was actually going to go on and take the fight. I’m just very thankful for the opportunity to be able to fight him. He’s the greatest of all time and deserves all the respect in the world. But once that cage door closes, I expect the same results that I had with Vitor.”
Gastelum does acknowledge just how much of a legend Silva is and he even compares him to legendary boxer Mike Tyson.
“It’s kind of a big deal,” he said. “I thought the Vitor Belfort fight was big. This is a whole another level. I’m fighting the greatest of all time. It’s like fighting Mike Tyson. It’s insane.”
Silva himself is coming off of a controversial decision victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 208.
UFC 212 takes place on Saturday, June 3 from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with Jose Aldo and Max Holloway headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
