Last year, UFC welterweight Kelvin Gastelum made the move to middleweight after proving to be inconsistent at making the welterweight limit of 170 pounds. Gastelum picked up a major TKO win over Tim Kennedy at UFC 206 in December of 2016 to pick up a major win in his middleweight debut. Most recently, Gastelum stepped into the Octagon against Vitor Belfort at ‘UFC Fight Night: Fortaleza’, where he picked up a 1st round TKO win before the win was ultimately overturned to a no contest after Gastelum failed a fight night drug test for marijuana.
Gastelum was pulled from his UFC 211 scrap with Anderson Silva this weekend, and was handed a six month suspension from USADA. The suspension was ultimately reduced to three months this week according to a USADA statement:
“Gastelum accepted a six-month period of ineligibility, which began on March 11, 2017, the date of sample collection. Based on Gastelum’s successful completion of a USADA approved drug awareness and management program, his period of ineligibility was reduced by three months and is now scheduled to expire on June 10, 2017.
advertisement – continue reading belowBecause the UFC Fight Night event in Fortaleza was sanctioned by the Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA), Gastelum’s positive test also falls under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian MMA Sports Court, which has the authority to independently adjudicate the case in accordance with CABMMA’s rules and regulations. Following the reduction to a three-month period of ineligibility, Gastelum’s sanction under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy is now identical in length to the period of ineligibility imposed by the Brazilian MMA Sports Court on May 7, 2017.”
Gastelum recently called for a fight with Silva this summer, asking the former middleweight kingpin if he would be willing to fight in July due to his inability to fight at UFC 211 this weekend.
Anderson Silva of course is focused on his standoff with the UFC.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/12/2017.