Following UFC Fight Night 27, many fans will likely be discussing the performance of Carlos Condit in the evening’s main event, but there’s another fighter who undoubtedly stole the show in Indianapolis.
Much fanfare was given to Urijah Hall while on The Ultimate Fighter due to his insane knockout power, but all that hype failed to materialize as Kelvin Gastelum took the TUF title from Hall in the show’s finale.
That fight was at middleweight and Gastelum was looking to drop to welterweight in his next time out. Not only did Gastelum make weight with no issues, he looked great at 170 pounds.
Gastelum came out quickly against Brian Melancon and used his wrestling early. Melancon did well to fend off Gastelum‘s initial offense, but it was clear he was fighting on the defensive from the opening bell.
The end finally came when Gastelum landed a flush uppercut that dropped Melancon to the mat. The TUF winner quickly jumped on his fallen opponent and secured a rear naked choke to get the tap out victory.
The win effectively made Gastelum a very intriguing prospect in the 170-pound division. If he can continue to showcase KO power with solid wrestling, he could become one of the first credible TUF title challengers in some time.
Only time will tell, but it’s hard to deny that Gastelum looked impressive in his new weight class. It may have been he was simply facing an inferior opponent in Melancon, but a win is a win.
Perhaps fans should stop sipping the Kool-Aid for Hall and brew a batch up for the TUF winner Gastelum?
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