Kelvin Gastelum has issued a statement following his loss to Sean Brady at UFC Austin last weekend. The UFC welterweights clashed on the main card of a stacked event and Brady delivered a solid performance against the former middleweight interim title contender.
Kelvin Gastelum Reacts After Loss to Sean Brady
From the get-go, Gastelum could not stifle the wrestling and grappling prowess of Brady. The fight was a one-sided affair in which Brady eventually won by third round submission with a nasty kimura. Gastelum wasted no time in issuing a statement on X, and he was gracious in defeat.
Brady controlled the entire fight, securing takedowns at will and dominating with top control. Gastelum had little to offer other than a few strikes on the feet, but ultimately did not have any answers for Brady’s superior grappling skills and was eventually submitted in the final round.
Gastelum’s Downfall
We have come a long way since Gastelum’s valiant performance against Israel Adesanya in 2019. Despite the defeat in one of the greatest fights in UFC history, the future still looked bright for the title contender.
Fast-forward to today and Gastelum is now 2-6 in his last eight fights. The defeats though have come against top guys such as Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier. His only wins during this time were against Ian Heinisch at UFC 258 and Chris Curtis earlier this year. Throughout his career he has fluctuated between middleweight and welterweight, and Gastelum’s defeat to Brady was his return to 170lbs. At the UFC Austin media day, Gastelum insisted that welterweight is his weight class.
“This has always been my division. I had success at middleweight, so I stayed there, stayed complacent. It didn’t work out for me in the end, so I had to get out of my comfort zone a little bit and dedicate to my diet a little more. This has always been my rightful weight class, man,” said Gastelum.
Quotes from bjpenn.com
Can Gastelum find success at welterweight? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
