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Kelvin Gastelum picked up a bittersweet win at Noche UFC. | Getty/UFC
Kelvin Gastelum earned his first UFC victory in more than a year this past Saturday, but that success comes with an asterisk.
“The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner took a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Dustin Stoltzfus in a featured bout at Noche UFC at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, as he bloodied his adversary and staggered him on more than one occasion in an entertaining three-round affair.
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“That’s what I expect every time I come out here is a tough fight,” Gastelum said in a backstage interview with the UFC. “Dustin, he came in here prepared to fight, [had] a good game plan, had some really good moments in the fight. But at the end of the day I’m very confident in my abilities to go against anybody in the world.”
The bout was contested at a catchweight after Gastelum came in five pounds over the middleweight limit. That’s a significant miss for someone who has struggled on the scales on more than one occasion during his UFC tenure. Gastelum attributed his issues this time around to accepting the fight against Stoltzfus on short notice.
“It’s a little bittersweet. I took this fight on four week’s notice. I really didn’t get a chance to get my weight down the way I wanted to,” Gastelum said. “I didn’t make the weight, and it just kind of spoils the whole thing. It’s bittersweet, but at the end of the day, we got the ‘W.’ I guess, ultimately, that’s what matters.”
Gastelum Still Has Championship Dreams
Gastelum once vied for interim middleweight gold, when he fell to Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at UFC 236 in a contest that was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. The 33-year-old Arizonan still has hopes returning to title contention before all is said and done.
“Just keep stacking Ws and hopefully get back into title talks,” Gastelum said of his future plans. “I know that I have some work cut out for me to get back into those conversations.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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