Kelvin Gastelum Mini-Doc (Bonus) (Patreon)

By Paul 

When Kelvin Gastelum first stepped foot in The Ultimate Fighter training center, no one gave him much of a chance. A 5'9" wrestler with a 71½ "reach didn't seem like the kind of fighter that could shake up the middleweight division.

Gastelum was so underrated, he was picked last but still proceeded to make it all the way to the finals, beating the heavily favored Uriah Hall. Despite winning the tournament, people still didn't expect much out of him. Fast forward to 2021, and Gastelum is ranked 8th in the middleweight division. One more impressive performance could get him another title shot. How did Gastelum improve in such a short amount of time? More importantly, how is he able to compete against the giants at middleweight?

He has definitely come a long way, and it's important to note just how much he's gotten better.

In the early days of his career, Gastelum would march towards his opponent until he was close enough to clinch or shoot in for a takedown. This was complicated by the fact that almost everyone in the weight class had height or reach on Gastelum. No matter what, Gastelum would have to absorb strikes on his way in. In the regional circuit, this was his strategy.

This wasn't all bad news. Gastelum's southpaw stance allows him to mirror his opponents, limiting the number of exchanges. The open position of the feet in an orthodox vs. southpaw fight makes it difficult to see all the possible attacks. The head and body are more exposed. To this day, Gastelum likes mixing in lead hooks with jabs and left overhands with straights to keep his opponents guessing. It doesn't matter if he gets hit along the way. Gastelum shakes out the cobwebs and tries again.

Gastelum retreats from time to time to lull his opponents forward to increase the likelihood for his strikes to land. Just when it seems like Gastelum is on the run, he will plant his feet and strike. Any time a fighter moves forward to attack, their balance is compromised. This makes punches land harder and increases the likelihood of a knockdown.

If the punches don't finish the opponent, it gives Gastelum the opportunity to get close to their hips. There isn't anything fancy about Gastelum's takedowns.

Many of his early submission and ground & pound victories came when opponents would shoot in carelessly, only to get stuffed or reversed. From there, Gastelum would strike away or look for a submission.

This strategy served him well for the first ten fights of his career. After beating Jake Ellenberger at UFC 180, Gastelum was matched up against Tyron Woodley in a #1 contender's match. The winner was promised a title fight against then-champion Robbie Lawler. Unfortunately for Gastelum, disaster struck.

Always one to struggle with his weight, Gastelum tipped the scales at 180 pounds on the day of the weigh-ins. This was the second time in his career that he had missed weight, and it was clear that anything short of an emphatic victory wouldn't guarantee him a title shot. Whether it was his fear of gassing out or the high stakes of a title shot looming, Gastelum was more tentative in this fight.

Against Woodley, the speed of his right hand kept Gastelum on edge and unable to throw strikes with his usual confidence.

A change was needed, and it seemed like his team at Yuma United MMA wouldn't be able to provide it. Having struck up a friendship with Fabricio Werdum, Gastelum made the move to Huntington Beach, CA, and started training at Kings MMA. This change of scenery and move up to the middleweight division has done wonders. It didn't happen overnight, but Gastelum showed significant improvements in his overall MMA game.

One of the most notable changes Gastelum has made is with his footwork. Instead of plodding forward or moving straight back, Gastelum now bounces around the Octagon.

By staying light on his feet, Gastelum can switch between advancing towards his opponent or skipping backward and angling out. This also allows him to dull his opponents' reactions since they aren't sure if Gastelum is coming in to attack or feinting to draw out a strike.

A closer look at his feet shows that Gastelum will first bounce in with a regular step. As his opponents try to move their head back to avoid strikes, Gastelum will cut an angle and hop to the outside, setting up his left hand perfectly. Gastelum's height and reach are below average in the 185-pound weight class. However, it also means he's used to finding creative ways to get on the inside or stay out of range.

Israel Adesanya and Chris Weidman have significant reach over Gastelum, but both ended up getting hit with left straights.

Gastelum never had a deep set of striking tools to work with, but he's done fine without them. A simple jab-straight mixed in with feints (thrown repeatedly) is enough to catch the best of them. To increase the chances of his straight landing, Gastelum will parry his opponent's lead hand first or slap it down to throw a hook. This works best against orthodox opponents, but other southpaws aren't safe.

Against Johny Hendricks, Gastelum feinted multiple times before he committed to throwing jabs and left overhands. When Hendricks tried to parry Gastelum's outstretched hand, he got hit with lead hooks instead.

Frustrated with his lack of offense, Hendricks stayed out in the open, allowing Gastelum to move in and out as he pleased. After a while, it was just a contest to see how well Hendrick's chin would hold up.

Vitor Belfort tried to exchange with Gastelum in the pocket but found no success. Gastelum was able to stay disciplined behind his lead shoulder when he jabbed and avoided getting clipped by Belfort's blitz attacks. Gastelum was patient and waited until he saw an opening.

When he threw a 1-2 that landed, he paused before another attempt. The second time around, Gastelum whiffed. Belfort thought he was out of danger, only to get caught by Gastelum as he switched his jab with a lead hook into a left straight.

Gastelum does an excellent job of staying on the outside of his usual range and repeatedly throws the same combination, varying the speed and power. Eventually, Gastelum found his mark.

Despite being on the smaller side at 185 pounds, Gastelum has natural attributes that blossomed once he didn't need to worry about cutting down to welterweight. Perhaps the skillset that gives Gastelum the biggest edge is his pressure. He might not have the imposing physique of Paulo Costa, but he can keep his pace up for nearly the entire fight. It doesn't matter if Gastelum only has a few weapons in his arsenal. When opponents are exhausted, they are susceptible to the most basic of strikes. Both Nate Marquardt and Tim Kennedy had the strength and size advantage over Gastelum, but that didn't matter.

Marquardt tried to pressure Gastelum with right-hand straights and clinches, only to get overwhelmed by Gastelum's pace.

There wasn't a moment where Marquardt was allowed to hang back and reset. Gastelum kept crowding Marquardt with strikes.

Even when Marquardt was able to take Gastelum down with a knee tap, Gastelum popped right back and landed a takedown of his own seconds later.

By the end of round two, Marquardt was depleted, and his corner called for the stoppage. It could be that Gastelum got lucky. No such luck for his next middleweight opponent, Tim Kennedy.

In the first round, Kennedy was able to grab hold of Gastelum and grind him down. When Gastelum popped back up, he got taken down again.

Instead of getting discouraged, Gastelum hit Kennedy at every opportunity.

Like Marquardt, Kennedy was hoping for some breathing room to collect himself before initiating another attack. Instead, Gastelum attacked him with jabs, feints, and plenty of straight punches.

It didn't matter if Gastelum wasn't landing, Kennedy still reacted by swinging back. When Kennedy missed and tried to run away, Gastelum stalked him down and started the process all over again.

It's also worth pointing out that despite coming from a wrestling background, Gastelum's grappling relies heavily on reversals and rolls to get back up to his feet.

Much like Tony Ferguson, Gastelum prefers to scramble out of tough positions the moment his butt hits the mat.

Having been on the receiving end of a wrestling clinic, Gastelum knows it's better to expend a little more energy upfront and keep the fight on his terms than being stuck on the bottom.

Building pressure also creates an opportunity where opponents feel the need to attack Gastelum first as he moves forward. This suits Gastelum just fine since it helps him close the distance.

Michael Bisping thought he had Gastelum in trouble when he threw his right hand, only to have Gastelum slip and knock him out with his right hook to left straight.

Gastelum's most notable performance came against current champion Israel Adesanya (despite being on the losing end). Even with an 8" reach disadvantage, Gastelum was able to use angles to get inside of Adesanya and soften him up with jabs and hooks to the body. His darting side-to-side movement and forward pressure offset the height and reach disadvantage and gave Adesanya some serious problems.

Gastelum even wobbled and dropped him, something that heavy hitters like Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero, and Jan Błachowicz weren't able to do.

Unfortunately, Adesanya got his timing down, and Gastelum's attacks fell short as the fight wore on. It also didn't help that the strikes Adesanya threw to Gastelum's body added up over time, slowing him down and leaving him open to Adesanya's counters.

Adesanya isn't the only one to have figured out Gastelum. Darren Till picked Gastelum apart at kicking range and clinched up immediately after throwing his own 1-2.

The moment Till felt that Gastelum was about to throw a follow-up strike, he grabbed on and slowed down the fight.

Gastelum's ranking slid further down when he got heel hooked in under two minutes by Jack Hermansson. Gastelum might have been able to stave off the leg lock attempts of Ronaldo Souza, but he underestimated his defense against the Swede. Gastelum finally got back in the win column after a hard-fought victory over Ian Heinisch. As fate would have it, he's scheduled to fight the former champion, Robert Whittaker, on April 17th, 2021. These two were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 234, but an abdominal hernia of the intestine and a collapsed bowel removed Whittaker from the fight. Two years later, and with just one month's notice, Gastelum has a chance to prove that he has what it takes to win at the championship level.

It's been an unusual journey thus far for Gastelum, and no one knows when he'll call it a career. It's tough to say if he'll end up on the list of all-time greats, but he's making a solid case for himself.  There is one thing that Gastelum has already succeeded in. The next time a fan or a pundit points out that X fighter is too small for their weight class, Gastelum will be there as an example of what's possible.