Kelvin Gastelum is ready for a big challenge, come Mexican Independence Day.
In his first welterweight fight since 2016, the ‘TUF 17’ champion is set to face the undefeated and highly-touted Shavkat Rakhmonov on Sep. 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kelvin Gastelum is Ready for Shavkat Rakhmonov
While it’s been some time since we’ve seen Gastelum at 170, he is no stranger to taking on some of the best fighters in the world. Gastelum’s been in the Octagon with the likes of UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker and Michael Bisping.
Gastelum is more than welcome to add Rakmonov to his ever-growing resume.
“Challenge accepted, baby. That’s how we do it,” Gastelum told The Schmo in a recent interview. “This is the kind of fight that I wanted going down to welterweight somebody that will put me up in those conversations to fight for the title or a contender.”I’m very excited, man. Obviously, everybody’s a little, little weary of the weight drop, right? Everybody’s a little nervous, but I feel like I’m on the right track to be able to do it and we’re doing things right. We’re doing it, going all in.”
Uzbekistan’s Rakhmonov might be ranked at #6 in the welterweight division, but Gastelum considers him as the #1 contender over Colby Covington, Belal Muhammad and the rest of the heap at 170.
“I feel like I’m fighting the #1 contender at welterweight,” Gastelum continued. “I feel like he is the #1 contender. I don’t think there’s a clear contender other than Colby, but Colby’s coming off, a win or a loss? I don’t remember. I just don’t see any clear contenders other than Shavkat…. I feel like this is the #1 contender fight.”
Months ahead, Gastelum is getting some Déjà vu from the matchup. The 31-year-old sees some similarities between the undefeated Rakhmonov and the once 16-0 Israel Adesanya, who he had a fight-of-the-year contender with back in 2019.
“I’m actually comparing [Shavkat] to Adesanya,” Gastelum added. “So when I fought Adesanya, he was another up-and-coming guy that was undefeated, rising star coming in. Kind of a similar situation that I’m in now, where I’m fighting Rakmonov.”He’s a rising contender, undefeated prospect. This is gonna be a fun fight. This is a fun challenge for me.”
Before ‘the fun challenge’ approaches, Gastelum will have to partake in something less fun which is making the welterweight limit for the first time in more than seven years.
It’s no secret that Gastelum hasn’t always been the best when it comes to hitting the scales, especially with a few weight misses here and there at 170. But with years of experience under his belt, Gastelum thinks he has finally got it down.
“It’s not my first dance at 170. Before, I was young, immature, a little disciplined. Now I feel like we got this under control.”
