Kelvin Gastelum reveals most of the “serious threats” against UFC champion Khamzat Chimaev
Kelvin Gastelum seeks to return to the Win column in a division which has become even more interesting during the last month.
Gastelum returns to the action this Saturday against Dustin Stoltzfus in Noche UFC in San Antonio. Since his last fight at UFC 316 against Joe Pyfer, Dricus du Plessis has abandoned the average weight title to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 in August.
After the dominant victory of Nassourdine IMAVOV at the UFC Paris last Saturday, the hunt for Chimaev’s next opponent is three names – Imavov, and the headliners of the UFC Vincover, Reinier de Ridder and Anthony Hernandez. When asked who could give Chimaev his most difficult fight, Gastelum weighed.
“Dude, I really think RDR is someone to consider a serious threat,” Gastelum told MMA Fighting. “I think it’s the man who could be this one.
“His size, his style is something to manage, guy. I mean, look, when I saw him fight against [Robert] Whitaker, I was blown away, like the difference in size. I fought Whittaker and I know how big it is. He made it look like a light weight.
Gastelum hopes to get back on the right track after his defeat against Pyfer, and is happy that the chapter of his career is behind him after spending almost seven months preparing for the show of the competitors. Pyfer withdrew from the original reservation at the UFC Mexico City on the day of the fight, which forced him to withdraw to the UFC 316.
The medium weight division certainly has a new look with Chimaev as a champion. And although it was a mixed bag in the MMA community with regard to the way people considered Chimaev’s performance against Plessis, Gastelum could not have been more impressed.
In fact, Gastelum decided to bring someone who helped Chimaev prepare for his first fight for the world title for the Fianl section of his training camp.
“Just super impressive how dominant it was,” said Gastelum. “I mean, his struggle, no one could do it at the DDP, and they are some of the best guys he fought – Izzy, Whittaker, etc. He fought the Who’s Who and no one could do what Khamzat did to DDP and I think the difference was the fight.
“And, in fact one of the guys he had in his camp was Pat Downey, [who] Immediately after helping Khamzat to have come to my training camp and helped me finish camp. So it was cool to do. This guy, Pat Downey, helped many MMA fighters, helping them to raise their grappling game and I think it was a difference manufacturer. “”
