Kelvin Gastelum is set for an enormous test for his second fight at welterweight against Rick ‘The Horror’ Story.
Gastelum has been riding an impressive win streak since he first entered the consciousness of the MMA masses. After carving a surprise path to the TUF 17 final he pulled off a big upset and stopped the Urijah Hall hype train dead in its tracks at the finale in April. He burst back into action a few months later – dropping in weight to 170 pounds – with an explosive first-round stoppage of Brian Melancon. It seemed that his TUF win was no fluke.
However, a fight with Story is a significant step up in competition, particularly seeing as it will be just his second fight at welterweight and his eighth career contest.
Story has been a permanent fixture in the UFC for nearly half a decade now, amassing a strong 9-5 record. He has had inconsistent results in the last couple of years, but he was back to somewhere near his best in his last outing, which was a unanimous decision defeat of Brian Ebersole. That was the first time in a long time that he looked like the outstanding fighter that outstruck Thiago Alves, shut down Johny Hendricks and straight-up destroyed Brian Foster during a six-fight win streak that caused the media to seriously consider him as a top contender.
The previously rumored was made official yesterday for UFC 171 on March 15.
The fight is the fourth confirmed welterweight on promising card that features a headlining fight between Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler for all the marbles at 170 pounds.
UFC Welterweight championship – Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler
Welterweight – Carlos Condit vs. Tyron Woodley
Welterweight – Hector Lombard vs. Jake Shields
Flyweight – Will Campuzano vs. Darrell Montague
Welterweight – Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story
Featherweight – Dennis Bermudez vs. Jimy Hettes
