MIAMI – Kelvin Gastelum is well aware of his dire circumstances going into UFC 287, and instead of shying away from it, he’s embracing it.
Gastelum (16-8 MMA, 11-8 UFC) enters Saturday’s featured preliminary bout with Chris Curtis (30-9 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at Kaseya Center with five losses in his past six fights. Every bout in that stretch came against high-level competition, but no matter how you slice it, “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner needs to get his hand raised in his ESPN-televised middleweight bout, which airs prior to the pay-per-view main card and following prelims on ESPN+.
Add the recent skid to the fact Gastelum hasn’t seen action since August 2021 due to multiple injuries and canceled bouts, and it hasn’t been the best time in his life. He said he’s managed to turn a corner at just the right time, though, and enters UFC 287 in a positive place.
“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind to get here,” Gastelum told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Wednesday’s UFC 287 media day. “A couple injuries, a couple camps without fights. So I’m happy to be here, to say the least. … It’s been hard on me, it’s been hard on my family – it’s been hard. I went through the valley of the shadow of death on my own. That’s what it feels like. Mentally I was getting depressed, getting the injuries I was like, ‘What’s going on with my life? Why is this happening?’ I went through all that. But finally I’m on the other side now.”
Despite the career-long 595-day layoff, Gastelum doesn’t think he’s lost his edge inside the cage. He sees Curtis as an advantageous matchup, and he intends to use his complete skillset to get the job done.
“He’s been having a lot of success boxing people,” Gastelum said. “He stays in your face and he boxes. I don’t see a lot of diversity in his game. He doesn’t kick a lot. … It’s not his main thing. He doesn’t wrestle a lot. But he has really good takedown defense. Nobody’s been able to take him down and keep him down, so he’s just been able to box everybody. It think my game is a little more complete. I have more tools in my tool box and I’m going to be able to pull them out.”
UFC 287 will occur just five days prior to the 10-year anniversary of Gastelum’s official debut under the UFC banner. His story has consisted of many ups and downs, but he’s still only 31. Saturday’s fight with Curtis has the energy of a crossroads for his future, though, and Gastelum is not ignorant to the importance.
“I’m here to reaffirm to myself that I’m one of the baddest dudes in the world,” Gastelum said. “And it’s going to turn and it’s going to let everybody else know. I’m here this weekend more as a reaffirmation to myself that I’m still here amongst the best.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
Kelvin Gastelum ‘went through the valley of the shadow of death’ during long layoff before UFC 287