Kelvin
Gastelum is likely fighting for his job at UFC
206. Gastelum has missed the 170lbs Welterweight limit on numerous
occasions, most recently he was scheduled to face Donald Cerrone at UFC 205 (11/12/16), but never even
attempted to tip the scale (speculation is he was over by more than 20lbs).
This marked the third time Gastelum missed weight in the UFC, at Fight Night 44 (6/28/14)
he earned the Unanimous Decision over Nico Musoke despite missing weight and at
UFC 183 (1/31/15), Kelvin lost his the
first of his career, to Tyron Woodley following a miserable loss to the scale, weighing
in ten pounds heavy.
Following the fight Gastelum was forced to move up to the
185lbs Middleweight Division to face 50+ fight veteran and ultra-tough
Middleweight, Nate Marquardt at UFC 188
(6/13/15). Gastelum won the fight by TKO due to Corner-Stoppage between rounds two and three.
Gastelum
was determined to compete back at Welterweight and convinced UFC brass to give him another shot in
the Division. A back-and-forth battle with Neil Magny, last November
(11/21/15), resulted in Kelvin’s second consecutive Split Decision loss in the
weight class. Still ranked in the WW division’s top ten Gastelum is coming off
a UD win over former WW champ, Johny Hendricks in front of the huge audience of
UFC 200 (7/19/16).
Despite
being only 5’9” Gastelum is undefeated as a Middleweight, he is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 at MW and
finished all three opponents in the TUF house
(2 Subs, 1 KO). He entered the tournament 5-0 at just 21 years old and was the
last pick for TUF coach, Chael
Sonnen. Besting Uriah Hall by Split Decision to win the finale, then four
months later (8/28/13), submitted Brian Melancon (1st 2:26) in his
Welterweight debut. Now 12-2 with eight
wins by stoppage (4 TKO/KO) the 10th
Planet Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt faces his biggest challenge in the #10 ranked
MW, Tim Kennedy.
Thirty-seven
year old, Tim Kennedy hasn’t fought since his controversial loss to Yoel Romero
at UFC 178 back in September, 2014.
Between rounds two and three Romero appeared unable to get off his stool at the
sound of the bell, sitting much longer than the one minute intermission allows.
Kennedy believed the fight to be over, but Romero finally got off his stool and
delivered a TKO stoppage just 0:58 into the final round. The loss ended a four
fight win streak, including an April 16, 2014 win over now-champ, Michael
Bisping.
The BJJ Black Belt, under famed trainer
Royler Gracie, once won three fights in one day at a MW tournament in Salt Lake
City, Utah. He stopped two opponents by TKO and beat Jason Mayhem Miller by UD (2/23/03). Besides being an MMA fighter, Tim
Kennedy is also an American Hero, joining the US Army Special Forces in 2004. A
decorated soldier, he was awarded the Bronze
Star Medal for Valor under fire. Kennedy was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, as
a Sniper, Sniper instructor and principal combatives instructor.
Kennedy
is also a Black Belt in Modern Army
Combatives and a three time MAC Light
Heavyweight Champion. He began his MMA training in 1999 with John Hackleman at The Pit, alongside Chuck Liddell and
Jake Shields. Fourteen of Kennedy’s eighteen wins have come by stoppage (8
Subs), eight of those in the First Round. Kennedy has also competed in the IFL, HDNets Fights and Strikeforce (including 2 Title shots:
UD Loss Luke Rorkhold 7/14/12, UD Loss Jacare Souza 8/21/10).
Kennedy
and Gastelum will meet at UFC 206 in the
Air Canada Centre in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada on December 10th.
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