UFC veteran Kelvin Gastelum will make his first walk to the Octagon since learning he’ll be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.
Kelvin Gastelum and former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya will enter the UFC Hall of Fame this summer in honor of their instant classic interim title fight. At UFC 236 in Atlanta, Gastelum and Adesanya treated fans to one of the greatest fights in the division’s history.
Adesanya won the fight by unanimous decision, but the result in itself doesn’t capture the back-and-forth war between him and Gastelum in the Octagon. The fight launched Adesanya into a global superstar and cemented Gastelum as one of the division’s toughest competitors.
Adesanya’s UFC return timeline remains uncertain after his loss to Nassourdine Imavov earlier this month. For Gastelum, he’ll return to the cage with a chance to return to the rankings in his upcoming showdown with a top middleweight star.
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Kelvin Gastelum faces brutal KO artist at UFC Mexico
As reported by ESPN Knockout, Gastelum will face Dana White’s Contender Series alum Joe Pyfer in a middleweight bout at the UFC’s upcoming return to Mexico City on March 29th. The card is headlined by a flyweight clash between former champion Brandon Moreno and former title challenger Steve Erceg.
As of this writing, the UFC hasn’t confirmed nor denied the Gastelum vs. Pyfer reports. UFC CEO Dana White could officially announce the bout in the coming days.
Pyfer returns to the Octagon after a vicious knockout of Marc-André Barriault at UFC 303 last June. He bounced back from his first UFC defeat to Jack Hermansson by unanimous decision last year, which was also his first UFC main event booking.
Kelvin Gastelum looks to regain Hall of Fame form against Joe Pyfer
Gastelum returns to the cage for the first time since a unanimous decision win over Daniel Rodriguez last June. He bounced back after losses in six of his previous eight fights, including defeats to Jared Cannonier and Robert Whittaker.
Gastelum is looking to reclaim the form that saw him eventually challenge for the interim middleweight title against Adesanya in their UFC Hall of Fame clash. Before his recent losing skid, Gastelum earned wins against the likes of Johny Hendricks, Michael Bisping, and Nate Marquardt.
The Gastelum vs. Pyfer winner could potentially earn a slot in the middleweight Top 15 with a victory at UFC Mexico. Gastelum, after an up-and-down recent series of fights, is looking to prove he remains a tough out in the division.