The scheduled UFC 205 welterweight bout between Kelvin Gastelum and Donald Cerrone will not take place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, as it was revealed that Gastelum failed to make weight Friday.
Gastelum announced the news on Twitter:
UFC has yet to announce if a replacement opponent will be brought in on short notice to take on Cerrone at the first UFC event to be held in the state of New York since 1995.
Gastelum further commented on the situation on Twitter and vowed to prevent similar missteps in the future: “I’m sorry to my team, my friends and the people that genuinely care for me. Extremely disappointed. I will have to reevaluate things in my life. No one is perfect. We all have bad days, but I promise it will not happen again. I will come back stronger like I have before. Until next time.”
The 25-year-old native of San Jose, California, is 12-2 in his professional career, and he was coming off his biggest win yet, as he defeated Johny Hendricks by unanimous decision at UFC 200.
Making weight has been an issue for Gastelum during his young career, as he failed to do so against both Nico Musoke and Tyron Woodley, although both of those bouts still took place at catchweight.
The 33-year-old Cowboy Cerrone is among UFC’s most entertaining fighters with a 31-7 record, including 16 victories by way of submission.
His presence on the undercard was a big reason why UFC 205 was being hailed by many pundits as one of the most stacked cards in the promotion’s history.
If Cerrone is out of the picture for UFC 205, there will be even more pressure on Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez to deliver in the main event for the UFC Lightweight Championship.
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