UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum has been on a tear recently. After dropping a split decision to Neil Magny at the TUF Latin America 2 Finale, Gastelum bounced back by picking up a unanimous decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 200. Following that, Gastelum returned to middleweight and picked up a 3rd round TKO win over Tim Kennedy in what would end up being Kennedy’s final fight.
Most recently, Gastelum picked up a dominant 1st round KO win over Vitor Belfort at ‘UFC Fight Night: Fortaleza’, extending his win streak to three, however the win was overturned to a no contest after Gastelum tested positive for marijuana. It was that same drug testing failure that also resulted in Gastelum being pulled from his scheduled scrap with Anderson Silva.
Now, ahead of his UFC on FOX 25 scrap with Chris Weidman this weekend, Gastelum is confident that with a win over the former champ, he is next in line for a title shot against the winner of Michael Bisping vs. Robert Whittaker.
He spoke to Flo Combat:
“People can keep underestimating me all they want and that’s just fine with me,” Gastelum said in a recent interview with Flo Combat. “I’ll keep flying under the radar and once they realize what I can do I’ll be sitting there as champion. It’s funny to me because I keep piecing up these guys I face and still don’t get the credit I deserve. That’s fine with me though because it’s been the story of my career and I’m used to it.”
“I absolutely believe I’ll be the next guy in the title race with a win in this fight and don’t see why that wouldn’t be the case,” Gastelum said. “[Gegard] Mousasi is gone. [Luke] Rockhold is MIA and hasn’t fought for over a year. [Yoel] Romero and [Ronaldo] Jacare are both coming off losses.”
“I’m ready to be next in line and ready for my shot and I’m calling for it as soon as they hand me the mic. I’m ready to get this ball rolling and continue my push up to get that shot.”
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Only time will tell what could be next for Gastelum. Tune in to UFC on FOX 25 this weekend to find out.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/19/2017.