The bout is three years in the making after the two were selected as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 28. Scheduled to face off in a middleweight title fight at UFC 234, then-champ Whittaker was scratched from the fight just hours before curtains when he suffered an abdominal hernia that required surgery. Gastelum went on to face Israel Adesanya for the interim middleweight title and lost the fight via unanimous decision. When Whittaker returned to defend his belt at UFC 243, Adesanya knocked him out to claim the undisputed title.
Since then, Whittaker has rebounded with wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier, while Gastelum has gone 1-2 with losses to Till and Jack Hermansson before a recent win against Ian Heinisch. The winner of the bout could get another shot at the middleweight belt.
Check out the UFC Vegas 24 live blog below.
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