Kelvin Gastelum Ready to Rise to the Occasion?

 Kelvin Gastelum (6-1 UFC) the winner of ultimate fighter 17 seemed that he was on his way to UFC gold and glory. Especially after beating the De facto overall pick of most mma fans and UFC brass to win the ultimate fighter Uriah Hall (5-4 UFC). Yes the same Uriah  Hall who just lost to Robert Whitaker (6-2 UFC) at the historical UFC 193 with fans hoping that he would get back on track with the 3 fight winning streak. Kelvin Gastelum has been fighting at many different weight classes since his win that the ultimate fighter 17 stemming from weight issues. At one point in time the fighter seemed to be working with Mike Dolce which helped him stay on target for his  weight class. It was after their amicable split that Kelvin Gastelum started running into weight problems. He ended up fighting 2 fighters Nico Musoke  and Tyron Woodley at catchweight which was the last straw for Dana White who stated :



“He’s done nothing to prove he can make 170 pounds, and when he doesn’t make 170 pounds, it’s dangerous and it screws a lot of things up around here,”

“I love this kid,” White said at the post-event press conference at Mexico City Arena. “He’s such a great fighter. I love how he goes in with a kid like Marquardt and stands right in the pocket with him and exchanges. His standup looked great tonight. But I don’t believe he can make 170. I honestly don’t believe he can make 170."

“He’s going to have to get serious and get a nutritionist. He had to cut to make 185, and he came in right on the nose, so I am the furthest from confident that he is capable of making 170, no matter how much I like him, or how much he says he can do it, I don’t believe him.”

“Like he said, I haven’t done anything to prove it,” Gastelum said. “But actions speak louder than words, so now that he said I need to prove it, I’m going to prove it.”

“That means no,” he said. “(At middleweight), he looked healthy, he didn’t look like he was going to die at the weigh-ins, and he looked great tonight. So if you’re me, or anybody who even remotely cares about the kid, where would you want him to fight At 185.

“I get it, he wants to be at 170, but he’s going to have to do something do something to get to 170. Just training and whatever he’s been doing hasn’t been cutting it.”

He was banned from fighting at welterweight due to his weight cutting issue and had to fight his next bout at middle weight where such monsters like Luke Rockhold, Jacare Souza, and Chris Weidman were and he himself stated that he didn't know if he would be able to make it in that weight class.

“I plan on going back (to welterweight) and getting in the boss’ good graces after this Saturday night,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t think I can beat (champ Chris) Weidman, or (Luke) Rockhold or (Ronald) ‘Jacare’ (Souza). Those guys are beasts.

“I think my skill level matches up pretty well with all of them. But I’m at a height disadvantage, a reach disadvantage, and a strength disadvantage.”

For his first fight at middleweight he took on the former UFC champion Nate Marquart and put on an impressive showing by getting a corner stoppage at UFC 188. This performance gave Dana white and the UFC brass a change of heart and gave him a fight back at welterweight which was supposed to be against Matt Brown. Matt Brown was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injury and was replaced by the seemingly unstoppable fighting robot Neil Magny. Neil Magny the fighter who has the most wins in a UFC calendar  year and was on a 7 fight win streak prior to being beaten by Demian Maia which most likely with a win would have put him in a title contenders match. Magny rebounded with a win at UFC Fight Night Holloway versus Oliveira over the eternal potentiate Erick Silva. And Taking out somebody like Erick Silva would suggest that Neil Magny is more of a threat than Kelvin Gastelum can handle, but it still seems to many fans that Erick Silva had not fully focused himself and that was not the best that Erick Silva could be at that point in time.

A win for either Kelvin Gastelum or Neil Magny on this main event card can seriously push them into the top 10 where their skills would be put to the test and show that they are elite fighters in their own right. But let's get a little bit controversial here, seeing as this card is being held in Mexico It seems that this fight is tailored more towards Kelvin Gastelum than anything else. Being an ultimate fighter winner and having wins over more top quality opponents, Kelvin Gastelum is the heavy favourite for this fight as many believe he has more tools in the bag me to win this. But the question always lingers. This is Kelvin Gastelum can he make weight and can he actually win?