Kelvin Gastelum issues statement following loss to Jared Cannonier at UFC Vegas 34

UFC middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum issued a statement following his unanimous decision loss to Jared Cannonier at UFC Vegas 34.

Gastelum went toe-to-toe with Cannonier for 25 minutes but lost 48-47 on all three of the judges’ scorecards at the end of the five rounds. The fight was extremely competitive throughout and it ultimately came down to how the judges scored the first round. Although fans on social media seemed split, all three of the judges scored the first round for Cannonier — as well as the third and fourth rounds — and gave Gastelum the second and fifth rounds, as “The Killa Gorilla” walked away with the unanimous decision victory.

Taking to his social media following the closely-contested battle, Gastelum issued a statement regarding the scoring of the fight. As far as Gastelum goes, he thinks he won.

I think I won but whatever …

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 22, 2021

I think I won but whatever …

Congratulations to Jared Cannonier on a very competitive fight!
Small adjustments and we’re back on top!
Tonight just proved that! We’re very close to being the best in the world.
Almost there & On to the next one!

— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) August 22, 2021

Congratulations to Jared Cannonier on a very competitive fight! Small adjustments and we’re back on top! Tonight just proved that! We’re very close to being the best in the world. Almost there & On to the next one!

Again, it was a very competitive fight, but ultimately, the judges scored the fight for Cannonier and the No. 3 ranked middleweight will continue to fight up in competition in the weight class. As for Gastelum, he is still the No. 9 ranked middleweight and has proven that he can hang with the best in the world at 185lbs, but he hasn’t been able to beat many of them lately. Aside from a decision win over Ian Heinisch earlier this year, Gastelum has lost five of his last six fights overall. To be fair to Gastelum, his strength of schedule has been absolutely brutal, but at some point, he has to start winning again.

How did you score the Kelvin Gastelum vs. Jared Cannonier main event at UFC Vegas 34?