Coming off a sensational knockout over Gerald Meerschaert, UFC middleweight Ian Heinisch believes he only has more to give in 2021.
Now ranked at number 15 in the 185lb division, Heinisch is set to take on his biggest test to date. Competing on the main card of UFC 258, ‘The Hurricane’ will face off against 9th ranked Kelvin Gastelum.
Gastelum has been a mainstay of the middleweight division for some time now, having even fought for a belt in 2019. However, since losing that fight to current champion Israel Adesanya, Gastelum has gone on a 3 fight losing skid. Ian Heinisch will look to springboard off Gastelum’s drop in form, to launch himself into the top 10 rankings.
‘The Hurricane’ recently sat down and spoke with LowKick MMA, about the upcoming fight, and how he see’s 2021 going.
“My goal is to be super active this year,” Heinisch said. “Last year I had a lot of injuries, covid, all this stuff came up. Got a bunch of fights cancelled. Grew so much. Trained in Thailand for a while. Trained at Xtreme Couture, trained around different gyms, with Genesis, Team Elevation.” He went on to state that “the people only got to see about a minute (&) sixty seconds last year, and that was what I was calling The Hurricane 2.0. It’s been about six months since then, and The Hurricane 3.0’s coming out in 2021. I plan on being active, I plan on showcasing all the new skills. Showing people the new me.”
In terms of Gastelum as an opponent, Heinisch admitted that it would be a tough test for him. However, he was quietly confident in his abilities to get the victory.
“He’s a big name,” Heinisch said. “Your next fights usually your biggest and he’s fought the who’s who, kinda like Derek Brunson. He’s fought for a title, he’s been up there. But I feel he’s a little one dimensional. He’s got great boxing. But for me it’s just to be unpredictable. Mix it up. Strike with him. Brawl a little, clinch with him, take him down. Just mix everything up. Cus the second I get one dimensional, he’s very good at timing people and that’s where he gets his knockouts.”
Ian Heinisch will face Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 258, on February 13th. A win would certainly catapult him into the upper echelons of his division.
Do you think we will see The Hurricane 3.0 in full display? Let us know in the comments.