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After announcing that he intends on dropping down to welterweight, UFC vet Kelvin Gastelum doubled down that he is 'dead serious' about making a run at 170lbs.
During an interview with ESPN Deportes' Carlos Contreras Legaspi, UFC president Dana White shared his thoughts on Gastelum's announcement. He mentioned that he believes that he has been talented but has managed to get by solely by his talent.
He said:
"I think Kelvin Gastelum has always been a super talented guy but I think he's kind of coasted off his talent instead of taking it very serious, so hopefully that's the case now. And you know, he's a tough, durable, talented guy."
The former TUF winner quoted the clip from the interview on his Twitter account and responded to ensure that he is serious about the move to welterweight. He mentioned that intends to work his way to the top of the division, writing:
"I am dead serious @danawhite...77KG...5.9” of pure steel incoming...All the way to top this time!"
It will be interesting to see how Gastelum performs when he returns to welterweight as the UFC president appears to like the idea of him dropping down to 170lbs.
Kelvin Gastelum announces his plans to make a run at the UFC welterweight championship
Kelvin Gastelum made it official as he announced that he will be returning to welterweight beginning with his next fight in hopes of working his way to another UFC title shot.
Gastelum posted a video on his Twitter account, where he explained his reasoning for dropping back down to 170lbs. He mentioned that he considers this a second chance in his career and promised a different outcome in his return to the weight-division, saying:
"Before I was young, I was dumb, I was stupid, undisciplined. But now that I'm older, hopefully a little bit more mature and smarter, hopefully! Everybody knows this has always been my weight class to go to, but it really just takes me to decide that I want to do it and now I decide that I want to do it, and I'm going to do it."
