Kelvin Gastelum is coming off a huge win over former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, and he figured he was in a very good position in the division going forward. And when current champ Robert Whittaker went down with an illness and was unable to defend the title against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221, the UFC created another interim title for the card. This fight will now pit Rockhold against Yoel Romero - not Gastelum.
Gastelum was asked about it by MMA Junkie while he was in attendance at UFC 220 and, he admitted that he wasn’t a fan of the move:
“It does bother me a little bit that I haven’t even been considered for a shot, but it is what it is, I know this is a process, and I’m just dealing with the process.