Kelvin Gastelum needed a win after three straight losses and he earned one as he defeated Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) at The UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kelvin Gastelum was looking to snap a three-fight skid dating back to his interim title fight with Israel Adesanya. Ian Heinisch was looking to use the former title contender as a stepping stone into the upper echelon of the 185lb weight class. That was the very simple premise of Gastelum vs. Heinisch, on the UFC 258 Pay-Per-View card Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Six total takedowns in 14 attempts and a seemingly endless gas tank helped Gastelum keep the pressure on Heinisch to hold off the 15th ranked UFC middleweight.
From the very beginning the fight was high-paced as most Gastelum bouts are and Heinisch seemed to prepared for it, matching the pace early on. However as the takedowns added up, Gastelum landing three in the first round alone, Heinisch spent most of his time defending against the ground attacks.
When taken down Heinisch resorted to attacking with kimura attempts which Gastelum, a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, easily and calmly defended. It seemed to be Heinisch’s main defense against takedowns.
The second round brought more of the same as Gastelum kept the foot on the gas forcing Heinisch to try flying knees in order to keep Gastelum from shooting. Gastelum easily absorbed the blow, and then shot a takedown getting Heinisch back to the canvas.
With under a minute left in the fight Gastelum seemed to use that time to slow down and recover. Heinisch tried his best to land on Gastelum and score with the strikes, but Gastelum seemed to see his attacks before Heinisch even threw them.
By the third round Gastelum still seemed fresh and Heinisch was clearly feeling the toll from the first three rounds. Gastelum kept the pressure on with the striking and put the wrestling attacks on hold, but that opened the door for Heinisch.
After defending a takedown early in the round, Gastelum took Heinisch down once again after defending another flying knee attack. This time Heinisch was able to reverse positions and take Gastelum’s back, but it did not last long as Gastelum was able to defend and get back to his feet. Heinisch was able to score a takedown at the end of the third round right before Gastelum popped back up and got one of his own at the buzzer.
Official Result: Kelvin Gastelum def. Ian Heinisch by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
