UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum is all in on 185 pounds as he gets set to take on Joe Pyfer at UFC Mexico on Saturday night.
Gastelum (19-9) had previously said he’d go back to welterweight, but loss to Sean Brady plus previous weight issues have pushed the TUF 17 winner to commit to middleweight.
“Yeah 185 is my home. I feel good about it this is where I’ve had the best moments of my career,” Gastelum told reporters on Wednesday.
“This is where I’m staying so I feel good here. I feel happy and I feel strong. I put a lot of muscle to be able to compete with these big guys. Before when I was competing in middleweight I was undecided whether I was going to stay or not.”
One of his fights at middleweight was against former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 236. The fight went down as one of the best of all time making it into the UFC Hall Of Fame.
“Even went back down to welterweight. When I was fighting for the title I just stayed at middleweight because I was doing well. I was winning fights, I fought for the title, so I stayed at middleweight,” he said.
“Now I feel like okay this is my actual home. I feel good here and I’m ready to put on a good show against some of the best fighters in the world. I’m 100% sure that this is where I’m staying.”
He kicks this run off with a big fight against hard-hitting Pyfer who comes off a nasty knockout victory over Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303. Gastelum wasn’t thrilled with the matchup at first.
“At first I was a little bothered by the matchup just because he’s not someone that I was looking for in a fight. I wanted someone ranked. I wanted someone with a bigger name,” he said.
“But you know what I also feel like this is a big test for me. I’ve got to start from the bottom again and I got to fight these young killers and that’s what I’m here to do. This is a new chapter in my life, a new chapter in my career, and I’ve got to build back up into the rankings and it starts with Joe Pyfer.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Kelvin Gastelum above. He takes on Joe Pyfer at UFC Mexico on Saturday night.
