Kelvin Gastelum explains desire to return to 170lbs despite middleweight success at UFC 206

KELVIN Gastelum produced one of the best performances of his career to stop Tim Kennedy at UFC 206.

One of the most notable aspects of his victory was the fact he did it having moved up from the 170lb welterweight division to the 185lb middleweight class.

That switch came about after Gastelum failed to make weight for his scheduled bout with Donald Cerrone at UFC 205.

But, having successfully moved up and stopped Top 10 contender Kennedy, Gastelum says he wants to move straight back down to what he believes is his optimum weight class.

“These last few weeks have been pretty rough – in my life, in my personal life, my work life,” he said backstage after his victory.

“But I consider myself a pretty positive person and I like to look at the positive side of things.

“I have family and friends that support me, which is the main thing for me. I have a great support system that kept me up (and) kept me lifted.”

Despite the criticism from outside, Gastelum still believes he should compete as a 170-pounder rather than making his move to middleweight a permanent one.

“A lot of people say or think I’m undisciplined. I’m undisciplined in my diet, for sure,” he explained.

“But I’m a fighter and I like to fight. I spend my days in the gym and I grow and I learn. That’s what I do.

“Obviously I need to work on my diet and my lifestyle.

“It’s just a matter of me changing my lifestyle outside of camp.

“Outside of camp I blow up too much. I go 40-50lbs above my weight class, which I shouldn’t.

“I was able to get away with it the last few fights. But obviously the older I get the harder it is to cut the weight. that shouldn’t be the case.

“My whole training camp is concentrated on just losing the weight I gained outside of camp.

“It shouldn’t be that way and I’ve vowed to make that change.”