{"id":291262,"date":"2018-11-13T07:51:19","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T15:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=291262"},"modified":"2018-11-13T07:51:19","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T15:51:19","slug":"robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, ESPN <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/kelvin-gastelum\/robert-whittaker-to-defend-title-vs-kelvin-gastelum-at-ufc-234-in-australia\/\">reported<\/a> that a middleweight title fight between reigning champ Robert Whittaker and surging contender Kelvin Gastelum was headed to UFC 234 on February 10 in Melbourne, Australia (February 9 in North America).<\/p>\n<p>The promotion has now made this booking official.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BqHw-t_gUMS\/<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Melbourne, here we come,&#8221; the promotion announced on Instagram. &#8220;Robert Whittaker returns to meet Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234, Feb. 9.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This bout will be Whittaker&#8217;s first since a June war with Yoel Romero, which he won by split decision. While many fans consider this fight a successful title defense for Whittaker, it did not technically go down as a title fight as Romero missed weight for the bout.<\/p>\n<p>In his next most recent bout, Whittaker captured the interim middleweight title with a decision win over Romero. He was then promoted to undisputed champion after <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/fighter\/georges-st-pierre\/\">Georges St-Pierre<\/a> defeated Michael Bisping and vacated that title.<\/p>\n<p>Whittaker is currently a strong 20-4 overall. Highlights of his record include defeats of Romero (twice), Ronaldo &#8220;Jacare&#8221; Souza, Derek Brunson, Rafael Natal, Uriah Hall, and Brad Tavares.<\/p>\n<p>Kelvin Gastelum, meanwhile, last fought at UFC 224, when he picked up a split decision win over Jacare. In his next most recent fight, he delivered a violent first-round knockout of Michael Bisping. This win served to separate him from a submission loss to former champion Chris Weidman. Gastelum, a former welterweight just like Whittaker, is currently 15-3 in sum.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of their anticipated middleweight title fight, Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum have been serving as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 28, where they have overseen a crop of <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/exclusive-maurice-greene-calls-tuf-28-rival-juan-espino-a-big-ogre\/\">heavyweight<\/a> and women&#8217;s featherweight fighters.<\/p>\n<p>Who do you think will win when Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum step into the cage at UFC 234 in February?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>BJPENN.COM<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>\u00a0on 11\/13\/2018.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month, ESPN reported that a middleweight title fight between reigning champ Robert Whittaker and surging contender Kelvin Gastelum was headed to UFC 234 on February 10 in Melbourne, Australia (February 9 in North America). The promotion has now made this booking official. https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BqHw-t_gUMS\/ &#8220;Melbourne, here we come,&#8221; the promotion announced on Instagram. &#8220;Robert [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":291263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10397,10582,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UFC middlweight champion Robert Whittaker is officially set to defend his title opposite Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in Melboure, Australia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UFC middlweight champion Robert Whittaker is officially set to defend his title opposite Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in Melboure, Australia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Robert-Whittaker-Kelvin-Gasteum-UFC-234.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\"},\"headline\":\"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/\"},\"wordCount\":309,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Kelvin Gastelum\",\"Robert Whittaker\",\"UFC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2018\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/\",\"name\":\"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"UFC middlweight champion Robert Whittaker is officially set to defend his title opposite Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in Melboure, Australia.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"UFC\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; UFC News, Results &amp; Fight Videos\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":148,\"caption\":\"| BJPenn.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\",\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"description\":\"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne | BJPenn.com","description":"UFC middlweight champion Robert Whittaker is officially set to defend his title opposite Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in Melboure, Australia.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne | BJPenn.com","og_description":"UFC middlweight champion Robert Whittaker is officially set to defend his title opposite Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in Melboure, Australia.","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/","og_site_name":"| BJPenn.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","article_published_time":"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":399,"url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Robert-Whittaker-Kelvin-Gasteum-UFC-234.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Tom Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_site":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Taylor","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/"},"author":{"name":"Tom Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87"},"headline":"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne","datePublished":"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/"},"wordCount":309,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Kelvin Gastelum","Robert Whittaker","UFC"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2018","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/","name":"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne | BJPenn.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-13T15:51:19+00:00","description":"UFC middlweight champion Robert Whittaker is officially set to defend his title opposite Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 234 in Melboure, Australia.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/robert-whittaker-vs-kelvin-gastelum-official-for-ufc-234-in-melbourne\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MMA News","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"UFC","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum official for UFC 234 in Melbourne"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","name":"| BJPenn.com","description":"MMA &amp; UFC News, Results &amp; Fight Videos","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization","name":"| BJPenn.com","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","width":600,"height":148,"caption":"| BJPenn.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87","name":"Tom Taylor","description":"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}