Kelvin Gastelum is often overlooked.
That’s the story of his career, mostly, at least since making his debut on The Ultimate Fighter in 2013. Gastelum was a prodigious underdog, picked last by coach Chael Sonnen. Throughout the season, Gastelum was the guy standing on the periphery, a shadowy figure who sometimes got background television time when the cameras focused on Uriah Hall accidentally showed him.
But then Gastelum got a phone call from Ronda Rousey. Rousey told Gastelum that if he won his next fight, she would make a personal appearance at the gym to teach everyone on the team a little bit of judo. And I don’t know if it was Rousey, or some other kind of magical mojo, but Gastelum went out and choked out Bubba McDaniel.
It was the first instance of the public seeing Gastelum overcome the odds. It would not be the last. He beat Josh Samman—also a heavy favorite to make the finals of the show—and moved on to face Hall in the finals.
Gastelum was supposed to be cannon fodder for Hall, who was quickly rising the ranks of the most hyped Ultimate Fighter contenders in the history of the reality show. Sonnen told Hall he could beat Anderson Silva right now, which seemed like a bit of bad advice to give a man not even in the UFC, and especially since Sonnen had twice failed to beat Silva. But Hall seemed like a monster, and everybody waited for him to crush Gastelum and get started with his proper UFC career.
Again, someone neglected to inform Gastelum that he was a placeholder. He went in the cage on April 13, 2013 and beat Hall by split decision. Since then, he has continued to overcome the odds, beating Brian Melancon, Rick Story and Nico Musokue, and has moved to the cusp of being a Top 10 welterweight in the UFC’s official rankings.
It is quite the thing, really. Gastelum, a top-tier welterweight and potential title contender? If you were to think such a thing back when Gastelum first stepped into the Ultimate Fighter house, you might have been legitimately laughed at.
Literally, as Dana White is so very fond of incorrectly saying.
But that’s the reality Gastelum and the rest of the world face as he prepares to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 180. Though official lines have yet to open at sports books, Gastelum expects to be an underdog to the veteran Ellenberger, who has spent continuous time near the top of a talent-rich UFC welterweight division. But he is fine with being the underdog because he is always the underdog. It feels like home.
“I like proving people wrong. Mostly I do it for myself. People will try and say you can’t do this or that,” Gastelum says. “Just watch me do it. It’s not going to be an easy task. I like the position I’m at where I have everything to gain.”
Ellenberger, ranked eighth in the UFC’s official rankings, is the highest-ranked opponent of Gastelum‘s career. It is a fight fraught with peril for Gastelum, who is undefeated but has yet to face someone with the kind of wrestling and power-punching skills Ellenberger possesses. But a win over Ellenberger? That will do wonders for his career.
Because Gastelum is young, but he’s impatient. He wants to ascend the ladder as quickly as he possibly can, and that means taking on and defeating a steady stream of top-tier opponents. He’s already beaten Story, who announced his return to the welterweight pack with a win over the highly-touted Icelandic fighter Gunnar Nelson. Gastelum believes a win over Ellenberger will give him the right to face a Top 5 opponent.
“A win over Jake will definitely put me in a great position to ask for a good fight, a fight that will lead me towards a title shot. It’ll definitely put me in a good position for a Top 5 opponent,” he says. “He’s one of the best fighters in the world that hasn’t fought for a world title. He’s very dangerous and explosive. He’s definitely the biggest test of my career.”
All quotes were obtained firsthand.
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