On November 25, the UFC will make its debut in mainland China with a stop in beautiful Shanghai. The card, titled UFC Fight Night 122, will be headlined by a middleweight scrap between former welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum, and former middleweight champion (and downright MMA legend) Anderson Silva.
This weekend, the two middleweight stars visited Shanghai to promote their fight. During this visit, the pair engaged in their first face-offs – and had a bit of Kung Fu infused fun while doing so. See one of their staredowns at the top of this post, and another below.
Gastelum will enter this fight having recently come up short against former middleweight king Chris Weidman. This win was preceded by a first-round thumping of Vitor Belfort, which was unfortunately overturned when Gastelum tested positive for marijuana metabolites. This no contest with Belfort was preceded by a thunderous third-round TKO win over Tim Kennedy. Gastelum is currently 13-3 (1) as a pro.
Silva, meanwhile, last fought in February, when he picked up a narrow decision win over Derek Brunson. This win separated Silva from decision losses to Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, a no contest with Nick Diaz, and back-to-back stoppage losses to Chris Weidman. The legendary middleweight is 34-8 (1) overall.
At present, the UFC hasn’t announced any other bouts for the card. On Monday morning, however, MMA-Today.com reported that the UFC Shanghai lineup had grown by two women’s bouts: One at strawweight, where Hawaii’s Kailin Curran (4-5) takes on Xiaonan Yan (7-1-1), and another at bantamweight where Gina Mazany (4-1) will battle Yanan Wu (8-1).
Who do you think wins Kelvin Gastelum and Anderson Silva’s upcoming middleweight showdown? Where do you think the winner will stand in the crowded middleweight division? Join the conversation in the comments section!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/25/2017.