Is Kelvin Gastelum slept on?

[Rebel_LioN]

Gastelum got his title shot based off beating a Bisping who got KO'd by GSP 3 weeks beforehand, and a dodgy and debatable decision win over Jacare. Even past it Weidman was able to destroy him. In reality his striking is limited and he's not very athletic, he relies on his chin and his opponents walking themselves into his range. People say Israel's performance against Anderson is not impressive but truth be told I am not sure Gastelum can beat Anderson either. Even though Anderson is past it physically his skills and brain are still there.

I agree on a lot of counts. I think it doesn’t make sense why he can’t make 170. But at MW he’s definitely ‘live’ against anybody. He lost to Weidman cuz eventually the size mattered when they grappled in the 3rd.

I just think Izzy hasn’t proved himself in the grappling yet.

I don’t know how the fight will play out but I could see Izzy catching a slick head kick somewhere or just smoothly use his range and batter Kelvin. Or I could see Kelvin coming on in the later rounds and eventually finishing on the mat with a TD or maybe even a knock down.

I always at least give the advantage to the party with the better grappling ability for obvious scoring reasons.

 

[Mamou]

This is Kelvin's fight to lose. Adesanya is a good fighter, but the hype is outrageous right now. Gastelum should be able to dictate where the fight takes place and I don't see Adesanya being able to survive on the ground.

 

[davidlemonparty]

If he's a dog against Israel I'm gonna bet on him.

He is a pretty big dog, dude. I've been drip feeding money onto him recently. I am hoping the UFC hype machine shifts into over drive come up to fight time and the line shifts more on adesanya. Gas is currently around 2.50 (+150), i'd love to see him close to 3.00 (+200). I want to have around $500 on him come to fight night.

My logic is that a great MMA fighter will tend to beat a Great kickboxer/wrestler/boxer/bjj (specialist), whom is only Good at the rest. Kelvin is great at everything. The X-factor is the size disparity.

 

[sonofjay817]

Aside from all those weight issues, he’s got a lot of talent. He’s an underdog to Adesnya which I understand cuz the weight/height is ridiculous, but if Kelvin can utilize his grappling in this fight, that could be the difference.

His scrambling ability is pretty top notch to be able to get through Jacare. He’s got bounce in his step and can fire off a clean 1-2. The only issue is his size for 185 and that bit of a character flaw.

I think I’m picking Israel to win this fight but my money is on Kelvin.

Chris Wideman's size gave Gastelum a lot of problems and Izzy is a wizard at distance management.

 

[aus101]

The fact he is small for the weight class is actually not a “character flaw” at all.

 

[GBJohn]

I find Gastelum hard to figure. As has been mentioned, he hits hard and has a great chin, but he also got finished by Weizmann and lost to Magny. All of his wins at middleweight are guys at the end of the line, so it’s hard to know exactly how much they had left when they fought him. Even his last three wins at welterweight could fit into that category.

I’m not a betting man, but if I was, I think I would stay away from this fight.

 

[Vegesus44]

Aside from all those weight issues, he’s got a lot of talent. He’s an underdog to Adesnya which I understand cuz the weight/height is ridiculous, but if Kelvin can utilize his grappling in this fight, that could be the difference.

His scrambling ability is pretty top notch to be able to get through Jacare. He’s got bounce in his step and can fire off a clean 1-2. The only issue is his size for 185 and that bit of a character flaw.

I think I’m picking Israel to win this fight but my money is on Kelvin.

He's going to need more than a simple 1-2 and scramble defence to beat Izzy.