Kelvin Gastelum received a lot of criticism this past weekend in San Antonio.
Gastelum missed weight by five pounds ahead of Noche UFC, coming in at a career-high of 191 pounds for his middleweight bout.
The former title challenger was fined 35 percent of his purse in order for his scheduled bout to still go ahead on September 13.
While Gastelum defeated Dustin Stoltzfus in an entertaining back and forth clash, any shine that he could have gained from this win was overshadowed.
A veteran coach believes that it shouldn’t just be the UFC Hall of Famer who is at fault for this issue.
- LATEST NEWS: ‘This isn’t about’… Dana White disregards one of the main concerns of hosting a UFC event at the White House
Ray Longo questions why the UFC would offer Kelvin Gastelum a short notice fight given his previous issues
Kelvin Gastelum has had issues with making weight throughout his UFC career, both at welterweight and middleweight.
Daniel Cormier admitted that Gastelum not receiving a post-fight interview after his win was something that was considered because this kind of mistake should come with repercussions, and this wasn’t his first mistake.
However, considering that the 33-year-old has a track record for this, there’s an argument to be made that he never should have been offered a fight on four weeks notice in the first place.
His former opponent recently said that Gastelum should have turned this fight down if he couldn’t hit the weight in time.
Veteran MMA coach Ray Longo agrees that Gastelum is partly to blame for saying yes, but he also questioned why the UFC would attempt to put him in this position.
“Part of the play, I don’t want to say this, is the UFC, too,” Longo said on the Anik & Florian podcast. “They’re asking a guy on a month’s notice to fight, and it’s the old saying, ‘You put a gun in a monkey’s hand and he shoots somebody, whose fault is it?’ That’s what they did. They know the guy can’t make the weight; most likely, it’s not in their favor. Go with a guy that’s a guaranteed lock.”
- LATEST NEWS: Tom Aspinall says Ciryl Gane has worked on ‘holes in his ground game’, could try to take him down at UFC 321
Ray Longo questioned whether there’s another reason why Kelvin Gastelum has had issues making weight
Ray Longo has seen countless examples of fighters struggling to make weight in the final stages of their preparations.
Even recently, he watched one of his fighters, Freddy Vidal, “almost die” after cutting a huge amount of weight for a late notice opportunity on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Speaking during the podcast, Longo questioned whether there could be a medical reason behind some of Gastelum’s issues.
“I like Kelvin. He’s really been a nice guy from the first day I met him, but I do think he’s got a serious eating disorder. He might fall into a category. He’s struggling or something. I believe he’s struggling. I don’t think it’s that he doesn’t care.
“I really believe this guy struggles with something or his body’s not responding like a normal person,” Longo said. “I don’t know. I could be completely wrong. I feel bad for him because it’s not a good look.”