{"id":951779,"date":"2026-11-04T02:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T02:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951779\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T02:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T02:32:15","slug":"kelvin-gastelum-admits-ufc-future-hinges-on-next-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951779\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelvin Gastelum admits UFC future hinges on next fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The final stretch is here for Kelvin Gastelum \u2014 and another UFC contract is far from guaranteed.<\/p>\n

The former interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight title challenger recently revealed that he has just one fight remaining on his current deal. Gastelum believes the promotion wants to re-sign him, but only if he can deliver a much-needed victory in his next Octagon appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have one fight left on my contract, man,\u201d Gastelum said in a recent interview. \u201cWe want to renew \u2014 this next fight is very important. I gotta win this fight. They want to renew my contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, Gastelum believes the interest is there, but his performance in his final contracted fight could ultimately determine whether UFC follows through with another offer. Even if he does secure another deal, however, the 35-year-old doesn\u2019t expect to be fighting much longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think after I renew and I complete that contract, I\u2019m going to ride off into my own sunset,\u201d Gastelum said. \u201cI got a few good ones left in the chamber, but I know the end is coming soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil that happens, I\u2019ll tell you what: I still believe I\u2019m one of the best fighters in the world, and I know I can compete with the best of them,\u201d Gastelum continued. \u201cI don\u2019t just say it to say it. I say it because I truly mean it. A lot of that competition is still in me; I just haven\u2019t been able to display it. The last few years have not gone the way I wanted them to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gastelum was then scheduled to fight Yousri Belgaroui at Noche UFC this past September but withdrew for an undisclosed injury.<\/p>\n

No opponent has been announced for Gastelum\u2019s final contracted appearance. Whenever it happens, the longtime veteran may be fighting for much more than another paycheck \u2014 he could be fighting to remain in UFC.<\/p>\n

\"Jesse<\/a>\"MMA<\/p>\n

To checkout UFC\u2019s upcoming schedule of events click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The final stretch is here for Kelvin Gastelum \u2014 and another UFC contract is far from guaranteed. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396,179146],"class_list":["post-951779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-paramount"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}