Former interim middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum is scheduled to take on Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Saudi Arabia this coming Saturday, but according to Gastelum, things may take a turn for the worse.
Following a rough stint at middleweight, Kelvin Gastelum decided to move down to 170lbs for his last bout, accepting a fight against Sean Brady. Unfortunately for the 32-year-old, he was submitted by Brady in round three.
Deciding to stick at welterweight, the former interim middleweight title challenger accepted a fight against Daniel Rodriguez, who sits just outside of the top 15.
Kelvin Gastelum is fearing a ‘pretty rough’ weight cut
Just a few days out from the fight, the 32-year-old is preparing to cut the final bit of weight to be able to make the 171lb limit come Friday morning.
Despite that, Gastelum has admitted that he is fearing a ‘pretty rough’ weight cut over the next few days, and is even planning on consulting with his manager about getting the bout changed to a catchweight.
“To be honest, this has been a pretty hard training camp, there’s a lot of things that went on behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t know and don’t get to see, but it’s been pretty hard to get my weight down,” Gastelum admitted at the UFC Saudi Arabia media day.
“I am pretty worried (that I won’t get down to 171lbs), but we’re going to talk with the manager and come up with the best gameplan but I think we’re in for a rough weight cut,” the 32-year-old added.
Gastelum has missed weight twice before during his UFC tenure, and his 2015 fight against Tyron Woodley was changed from a welterweight bout to a catchweight bout after Gastelum came in heavy.
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Gastelum pictures his UFC Saudi Arabia fight as loser leaves the UFC
‘D-Rod’ heads into his fight against Gastelum on a two-fight losing skid, with his last coming devastatingly against Ian Machado Garry.
“Daniel Rodriguez is a really formidable boxer, he has really good striking and I think pretty good defensive wrestling. We’ve been working a lot on wrestling but once we get in there and lock that door, a lot of times the emotions get the better of us, and sometimes that gameplan goes out the window,” Gastelum stated
Gastelum admitted earlier this week that he is picturing his upcoming fight as a ‘loser leaves’ the UFC type of fight.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. If everything is going right then something is going wrong. I’m used to jumping and hopping over these hoops and dealing with the problems that life gives us, we’ve just got to roll with the punches and keep moving forward, I’m used to that,” Gastelum explained.
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Daniel Rodriguez provides clarity on the scheduled fight
Fortunately, ‘D-Rod’ has provided some clarity on the status of his welterweight fight against Kelvin Gastelum.
“Actually, the matchmakers reached out and I tried to get it (changed) to a catchweight but I mean, he must be having such a bad fight camp that he can’t even make 180lbs.
“I’m currently 179lbs so I have to put weight back on, it’s been 13 weeks since I found out about this fight, I’m sure he has too, so the fact he’s saying that he’s having a bad fight camp makes no sense and I feel like it’s a lack of discipline. I don’t know whether it’s a bad fight camp or him just being lazy,” Rodriguez questioned at media day.