Recent UFC Hall of Fame inductee Kelvin Gastelum is back! The former Ultimate Fighter winner will return to action opposite fellow Middleweight veteran Dustin Stoltzfus in just a few weeks on September 13 at the Noche UFC event, which will take place from inside Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas (not Mexico).
There’s a lot of pressure on Gastelum to perform here, as it’s been a rough six years or so for the former interim title challenger. Since coming up just short against Israel Adesanya, Gastelum has lost six of nine bouts and never won consecutive fights. In that span was a short-lived Welterweight return that saw him forcibly returned to Middleweight after struggling on the scale yet again. Most recently, Gastelum turned in a ho-hum performance against Joe Pyfer, looking the much smaller man.
Still just 33 years old, Gastelum could be facing release with another loss here.
Standing opposite him is Stoltzfus, whose UFC career began with an 0-3 stretch against a trio of jiu-jitsu black belts. He showed some grit to recover his footing, however, as Stoltzfus has managed to evenly split his last six bouts. He’s not a natural athlete on the level of his opponent, but Stoltzfus has genuinely improved a decent bit in recent years, getting more aggressive and finding more success as a result. Most recently, he lost a competitive decision to 6’5” finisher Nursulton Ruziboev.
Who gets it done in “Alamo City?”