Kelvin Gastelum: Learning how to be champion outside of camp will head UFC bounce-back
Less than one month removed from his loss to Joe Pyfer at UFC 316, Gastelum (19-10 MMA, 13-10 UFC) won't speculate who his next fight will be against or who it will be.
"It's unfortunate he couldn't fight in Mexico City because we wanted to use the elevation as a weapon," Gastelum recently told MMA Junkie Radio at the UFC X fan experience. "We went out there a month ahead and did everything right so that we were able to use the elevation and the training that I had out there as a weapon."
Throughout his career, Gastelum has had ups and downs – quite literally. He bounced between welterweight and middleweight, but has firmly nestled himself into the mix at the heavier weight class. He has not interest in dropping back down.
What Gastelum is focused on are the adjustments he can make to get a different result. Largely, Gastelum thinks the most room for improvement can be found in the areas of outside-the-cage discipline.
"I think I just need to make some changes maybe in my daily life," Gastelum said. "Maybe, I'll sacrifice a little bit more when I'm not in training camp. I do whatever, whenever. I go party. I go out to restaurants more than I should. When I'm not in training camp, I need to learn how to be a world champion, even when I'm not in training camp – staying disciplined and making sacrifices, even when I don't have a fight."
"... "I think over the last few years, I've been making changes in my daily life to make necessary changes so I can reflect on my career. It's a never-ending game, this MMA. I'm still trying to figure things out 13 years later, which is crazy. But here we are."
MMA is a sport of momentum, in Gastelum's eyes. Although he's alternated losses and wins across his most recent five outings, the goal hasn't changed. UFC gold is still what he strives for.
"I just know that I need to restart, man, get a fresh start, get a streak going and keep it going, just keep the ball rolling," Gastelum said. "It's so hard to build that momentum when it comes to fighting. I'm just trying to build that momentum up again to go on a run and ultimately, that's what I want."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Finishes galore: Check out all of the wild stoppages from PFL MENA and 2025 PFL Europe 2
PFL hosted a pair of events this past weekend filled with sensational knockouts and submissions, including a Knockout of the Year candidate. Friday, 2025 PFL MENA 2 took place at The Green Halls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 11-fight event saw seven stoppages, consisting of five KO/TKOs and two submissions. Perhaps the most impressive among the bunch was a flying knee knockout from Islam Youssef. Advertisement Saturday, 2025 PFL Europe 2 took place at ING Arena in Brussels, Belgium. The 16-fight event saw a total of 10 stoppages, splitting evenly between KO/TKOs and submissions. The highlight of the night, and perhaps the year, was a spinning back elbow knockout from Gustavo Oliveira, but there was also a Von Flue choke and an Ezekiel choke that wowed the crowd, too. The main event fights of both cards produced spectacular finishes as well, with Omar El Dafrawy submitting Daniele Miceli at PFL MENA and Patrick Habirora knocking out Danny Roberts at PFL Brussels. If you missed the events, you can check out each finish from both cards below. PFL MENA: Abdalrahman Alhyasat submits Anthony Zeidan Abdalrahman Alhyasat def. Anthony Zeidan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:50 PFL MENA: Islam Youssef knocks out Benyamin Ghahreman Islam Youssef def. Benyamin Ghahreman via knockout (flying knee) – Round 2, 3:55 PFL MENA: Nawras Abzakh knocks out Ali Yazbeck Nawras Abzakh def. Ali Yazbeck via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:50 PFL MENA: Amir Fazli knocks out Rostem Akman Amir Fazli def. Rostem Akman via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:34 PFL MENA: Moktar Benkaci stops Marcel Adur Moktar Benkaci def. Marcel Adur via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:57 PFL MENA: Hattan Alsaif TKOs Nour Al Fliti Hattan Alsaif def. Nour Al Fliti via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 2:24 PFL MENA main event: Omar El Dafrawy submits Daniele Miceli Omar El Dafrawy def. Daniele Miceli via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:15 PFL Brussels: Salvo Giudice submits Brice Belghazi Salvo Giudice def. Brice Belghazi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:14 PFL Brussels: Levi Batchelor submits Fahdi Khaled Levi Batchelor def. Fahdi Khaled via submission (Ezekiel choke) – Round 3, 4:34 PFL Brussels: Adam Meskini finishes Tiziano Ferranti Adam Meskini def. Tiziano Ferranti via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:56 PFL Brussels: Paulina Wisniewska taps Jessica Cunha Paulina Wisniewska def. Jessica Cunha via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:12 PFL Brussels: Jan Cieplowski knocks out Julien Pierre Lopez Jan Cieplowski def. Julien Pierre Lopez via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:43 PFL Brussels: Gustavo Oliveira's Knockout of the Year contendter of Anas Azizoun Gustavo Oliveira def. Anas Azizoun via knockout (spinning back elbow) – Round 1, 3:25 PFL Brussels: Movsar Ibragimov taps Gerardo Fanny Movsar Ibragimov def. Gerardo Fanny via submission (Von Flue choke) – Round 2, 1:42 PFL Brussels: Boris Mbarga Atangana stops Bruno Santos Boris Mbarga Atangana def. Bruno Santos via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:56 PFL Brussels: Gaetano Pirrello submits Salvatore Liga Gaetano Pirrello def. Salvatore Liga via submission (D'arce choke) – Round 1, 3:22 PFL Brussels main event: Patrick Habirora knocks out Danny Roberts Patrick Habirora def. Danny Roberts via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:32 This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Watch the wild stoppages from PFL MENA and 2025 PFL Europe 2
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Diego Lopes puts Ilia Topuria over Islam Makhachev in pound-for-pound, sees fight as 50-50
Diego Lopes weighs in on the pound-for-pound discussion. The discussion around the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in MMA today has been a hot topic over the last week. After Ilia Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira to claim the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 317, many, including the UFC official rankings, have put Topuria over Islam Makhachev on that list. Diego Lopes, a former UFC title challenger and current top contender, thinks it's fair and deserving for Topuria to get that spot. "I think because of Topuria's last three wins, that puts him in that sport, right?" Lopes told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. "We're talking about the quality of opponents compared to Islam's. I'm not trying to take anything away from Islam and his wins over (Dustin) Poirier, Oliveira, Renato Moicano, but speaking about legacy, the people who Topuria beat give him that spot." The win over Oliveira tops a three-fight run that many are calling the best in history. Prior to UFC 317, Topuria had knocked out featherweight legends Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in title fights. Lopes, who's a fan of Oliveira, knew a knockout was in the cards at UFC 317, despite his heart wanting a different outcome for his fellow countryman. "We knew that could happen because of their fighting styles," Lopes said. "Obviously, everyone who's a fan of Charles didn't want it to be this way, but we need to be aware of things. You had to put your fandom aside and acknowledge the quality of technique of Ilia. We knew that a well-placed shot from Ilia would put him to sleep, and that's exactly what happened." It's not in the immediate future, given Makhachev's move up to welterweight, but a potential Topuria vs. Makhachev matchup could be on the horizon. If the fight does go down, despite giving Topuria the pound-for-pound best ranking, Lopes still sees the affair as a coin toss. "The only time we've seen Topuria have a tough time was in his debut, which was a close fight, and when he fought that tall kid at 155 who he knocked out," Lopes said. "After that he's evolved a lot, he's evolved a lot. He surprised me a lot because when Charles closed the distance, and you see he has a very good position to get a takedown and in unable to take him down. I was actually next to a friend and when I saw Charles unable to get him down despite having a good position, I looked at my friend and said, 'Ok, he's a problem.' "He's a problem because he's a guy that knows much more than just boxing. He can wrestle, and that can give Islam trouble. Also, we make an analysis based on the fights that happened, but once you're there it can be a completely different fight. It happened to me against Volk. I expected a certain fight, and he was totally different in there. Same thing here. Ilia can focus so much on the wrestling that maybe he gets surprised on the feet, which happened to Volkanovski in the second fight against Islam with the head kick. But it can also happen that Islam worries too much about Topuria's boxing and underestimate his wrestling. I don't know. A lot can happen. I think it's a 50-50 fight."
CBS News
9 hours ago
- CBS News
Trump says he'll host a UFC fight on White House grounds next year
Get ready to see some punches on the White House grounds. President Trump says he will host a UFC mixed martial arts fight at the White House as part of next year's festivities celebrating 250 years of American independence. The idea came up during a Thursday night speech at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, one year and one day before the 250th anniversary of the 1776 ratification of the Declaration of Independence. The federal government is planning to mark the occasion with a year's worth of events — including a UFC fight, according to Mr. Trump. "We're going to have some incredible events," the president said. "Some professional events, some amateur events. But the UFC fight is going to be a big deal, too." Further details on the event, which is not lacking for possible names (the Rose Garden Fight Night? Oval Office Octagon?), are unclear. But the president is "dead serious" about the idea, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a pool reporter on Thursday. A UFC spokesperson also confirmed the plans to CBS News. Mr. Trump described it as a "championship fight, full fight" with 20,000 or 25,000 spectators — a tall order for the White House grounds, though Mr. Trump said, "we have a lot of land there." He said longtime UFC CEO Dana White will organize the event. "It's going to be EPIC!" wrote Leavitt on X. The president's ties to the UFC go back to at least 2001, when the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City hosted the mixed martial arts enterprise. Since then, Mr. Trump has periodically attended UFC fights, including last month. The president is also close with White, who helped introduce Mr. Trump at last summer's Republican National Convention and took the stage at Mr. Trump's election night victory party. Mr. Trump plugged a handful of other America250 events in his Thursday speech, including a "Great American State Fair," a National Mall celebration and an athletic competition called the "Patriot Games." "I think it's going to be a wild time," Mr. Trump told reporters after returning to the D.C. area following the speech.
