Due to the fact that the middleweight division is currently a bit top heavy with contenders, Kelvin Gastelum likely won’t receive the next title shot, but the 26-year-old is targeting the fight that will get him closest to the strap:
“Just the fight that will get me to the title shot,” Gastelum said on a recent episode of ESPN’s 5ive Rounds podcast. “That’s the fight I want. I know I probably won’t get a title shot next, but I want to fight the No. 1 contender.”
And if that opportunity presents itself at welterweight, Gastelum isn’t opposed to cutting back down to 170 pounds:
“If it’s at welterweight, I will make the cut. The cut is dreadful and the diet is extreme, but if it’s worth it, I will do it.”
As far as potential opponents go, Gastelum named Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza as a possibility, although he’s a bit weary of fighting the Brazilian at UFC 224 in his native country:
“I would love to fight in Rio, and obviously a fight with Jacare would propel me to where I want to go. I’m scared of that commission. I don’t know what to think of the commission,” Gastelum said.
“I should probably talk to someone in the commission or [UFC vice president of regulatory affairs] Marc Ratner. Hopefully, he’d keep me safe and nothing happens to my [drug] samples. I just don’t know what to think of the commission over there.”
Would you like to see Gastelum meet “Jacare” later this year?
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