Born on 24th October 1991, Kelvin Gastelum is a professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the middleweight division of the UFC. He won 'The Ultimate Fighter 17' and since then, he has been working with the premier MMA promotion in the world. Gastelum is currently ranked #4 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
During high-school, Gastelum was a state level wrestler and worked as a bail bondsman before he decided to foray into the world of professional MMA. On his professional MMA debut, he faced Jose Sanchez in Mexico on December 11, 2010 and came out victorious in the second round via submission due to punches.
In 2013, Gastelum was picked for 'The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen'. He was selcted by former UFC fighter, Chael Sonnen. Gastelum cleaned house on his way to the final, beating everyone put in front of him. In the finale of 'The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen', he went up against his teammate Urijah Hall. At the age of 21, Gastelum became the youngest winner of 'The Ultimate Fighter' series, beating Hall via split decision.
Gastelum was slated to fight Tyron Woodley on January 31, 2015 at UFC 183. At the weigh-in, it was revealed that Gastelum failed to make weight. However, Woodley agreed to a catch-weight bout and he even won the fight via split decision. Woodley later announced that he forfeited 30% of Gastelum's purse which he was supposed to get due to Gastelum's failure to make weight.
On March 11, 2017, Gastelum fought Vitor Belfort in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 106 where he finished Belfort via TKO, and also earned a Performance of the Night bonus award. However, his win against Belfort was overturned into a 'no-contest' after he tested positive for usage of Marijuana beyond limits prescribed by USADA.
Gastelum and Chris Weidman met on 22nd July, 2017 at the main event of UFC on FOX 25. Weidman got the better of Gastelum in the fight, winning via submission in the third round.
On 25th November, 2017, Kelvin Gastelum and Michael Bisping squared off at the headliner of UFC Fight Night 122: Bisping vs. Gastelum at Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China. Gastelum was terrific on the night as he landed a vicious KO on Bisping in the first round.
In the biggest fight of his career, Gastelum went toe to toe with 'The Last Stylebender' Israel Adesanya in the co-headliner of UFC 236 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, for the interim UFC Middleweight championship. In a tightly contested encounter, Adesanya mounted a late comeback to prevail over Gastelum and picked up the win via unanimous decision.
Gastelum welcomed Darren Till to the middleweight division as the pair co-headlined UFC 244 on November 2, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Till put up a brilliant performance on his debut fight at middleweight and beat Gastelum via split decision.
| Matches | Wins | Losses | Draws | No Contest |
| 21 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
Given below is the professional MMA record of Kelvin Gastelum.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event |
| Loss | 15–5 (1) | Darren Till | Decision (split) | UFC 244 |
| Loss | 15–4 (1) | Israel Adesanya | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 236 |
| Win | 15–3 (1) | Ronaldo Souza | Decision (split) | UFC 224 |
| Win | 14–3 (1) | Michael Bisping | KO (punches) | UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Gastelum |
| Loss | 13–3 (1) | Chris Weidman | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | UFC on Fox: Weidman vs. Gastelum |
| NC | 13–2 (1) | Vitor Belfort | NC (overturned) | UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum |
| Win | 13–2 | Tim Kennedy | TKO (punches) | UFC 206 |
| Win | 12–2 | Johny Hendricks | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 200 |
| Loss | 11–2 | Neil Magny | Decision (split) | The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 2 Finale: Magny vs. Gastelum |
| Win | 11–1 | Nate Marquardt | TKO (corner stoppage) | UFC 188 |
| Loss | 10–1 | Tyron Woodley | Decision (split) | UFC 183 |
| Win | 10–0 | Jake Ellenberger | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC 180 |
| Win | 9–0 | Nico Musoke | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens |
| Win | 8–0 | Rick Story | Decision (split) | UFC 171 |
| Win | 7–0 | Brian Melancon | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 |
| Win | 6–0 | Uriah Hall | Decision (split) | The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Finale |
| Win | 5–0 | Mike Ashford | TKO (punches) | Rage in the Cage 161 |
| Win | 4–0 | Bill Smallwood | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Cage Rage: On the River 2 |
| Win | 3–0 | Mike Gentile | TKO (punches) | Desert Rage Full Contact Fighting 10 |
| Win | 2–0 | Yair Moguel | Submission (kimura) | Latin American Warriors 1: Heatwave |
| Win | 1–0 | Jose Sanchez | TKO (submission to punches) | Latin American Fighter 1: Border Wars |
