Media Kelvin Gastelum: "He will have a real chance of regaining that MW title" on Robert Whittaker.

JonJonesNeedle said:
Sure, the guy who got beat by Magny is gonna become champ.

Kelvin at 170 has always been overrated. At 185, Kelvin may be smaller but he's much faster than his opponents. Speed kills. Not the same case at 170lb
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the magny fight was very close and kelvin arguably won
 
I don’t put too much stock into anybody else’s predictions, even pro fighters. But, the blueprint is out, and Whittaker employing the proper gameplan can definitely win his belt back.

I agree.
 
if you ask myself, I think it will be a good fight.
just myself's thoughts.
not that you are asking myself or anything.
 
BobblyStruggles said:
INFO:
Kelvin Gastelum(17-7,1NC) while being asked questions from the media, he talked about his last fight against Robert Whittaker(23-5) and Rob's chances against current champion Isreal Adesanya(21-1).
CLIP(30 Seconds):

FULL INTERVIEW:

CLIFFS:
- Talks about his next fight against Jared Cannonier. He knows it's a tough fight and it's a bout he wanted/had in mind.
- Knew Jared was already booked against Costa. Has respect for Costa, but feels throughout his career he's been very "injury prone". Had a feeling one of them would pullout of the fight so he could step in.
- This time he gets a full camp and is excited to perform.
- Expecting a tough fight, no easy fights once you break the top 5. He fought them all and wants his chance to prove himself. Knows his last few fights haven't gone his way, but believes he can still hang with the top guys and beat them.
- No idea about Paulo Costa and the pay situation. Mentions Paulo Costa already has a youtube channel, says to go check it out. PAULO COSTA's YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK9smP1uHytt9_RIliUiteg
- No excuses for the Rob fight, he was mentally and physically prepared.
- On the fight with Whittaker: "He was just a step ahead the entire time". It motivated him to try and get to that level. Impressed by Rob, didn't think he was that good and has never felt like that in a fight(Not even with Isreal Adasenya). Felt frustrated throughout the fight and claims Rob made him look "bad".
- Claims Whittaker was much faster, utilized his footwork well, avoided standing in the pocket and used a great jab.
- If Robert Whittaker fights the way that he did against himself in his rematch against Israel Adasenya, he will have a real chance at regaining that MW title.
- Pressure is always there, expects great things from himself and a good performance.
- Still 29 years and feels he still has a long road ahead. Renewed focus on his career.
- Wasn't worried about being cut before the Ian Heinisch fight.
- If he beats Cannonier, he thinks he'll have to get 1 or 2 more wins in the top 5 to earn another TS.

SOURCE: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021...ttaker-can-beat-israel-adesanya-ufc-263-video

NEXT FIGHT:
Kelvin Gastelum(17-7,1NC) will be taking on Jared Cannonier(13-5) on August 21st in a 5 round main event.
1601316815Kelvin_Gastelum.jpg
1601316436Jared_Cannonier.jpg
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Props to him, good dude. Didn't realize he's only 29.
 
People forget that Kelvin's first couple fights after dropping to 170 he was shredded and looked fast and powerful. Then he got chubbier and started having problems making 170.

kelvin in shape.jpg
 
Kvothe_the_kingkiller said:
Ya, saw that. Thanks for posting and for the cliffs.

Whittaker's footwork and feints are more subtle than Jan's. Obviously Jan did a great job of keeping Israel guessing, instead of what is typically the other way around. I wonder if Whittaker will take anything from that.

On a barely related note, I remember when Couture came out bobbing and weaving against Sylvia in a way that he had never really done before. All head and body movement, no subtlety. It worked beautifully. Of course, in that contest Couture had 10x the quickness of Sylvia so he decided to use it. And that isn't the case here.
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I think the first time Randy used the bobbing the head movement was against Vitor in the first fight. Helps he had such a good clinch game too.
 
Fight is going to last longer, but I believe Adesanya will get his hand raised again.
 
JonJonesNeedle said:
Sure, the guy who got beat by Magny is gonna become champ.

Kelvin at 170 has always been overrated. At 185, Kelvin may be smaller but he's much faster than his opponents. Speed kills. Not the same case at 170lb
Click to expand...

There was a moment in time when Woodley became champ, around that time, it was possible for Kelvin to become WW champ. He lost a competitive split dec to Woodley, Woodley became champ the next fight. 170 Kelvin had potential at that time, he's kind of a waste because he cares so much about eating
 
TempleoftheDog said:
I don’t put too much stock into anybody else’s predictions, even pro fighters. But, the blueprint is out, and Whittaker employing the proper gameplan can definitely win his belt back.

I agree.
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lol, a simple "blueprint" that only requires you to be 30lb heavier, let alone being able to out-strike Izzy.

Nobody at MW is holding Izzy down. If he were to lose at MW it will be by a different gameplan.
 
HP_Nut said:
There was a moment in time when Woodley became champ, around that time, it was possible for Kelvin to become WW champ. He lost a competitive split dec to Woodley, Woodley became champ the next fight. 170 Kelvin had potential at that time, he's kind of a waste because he cares so much about eating
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Dude Kelvin came in considerably heavy for that fight and should have lost. He doesn't have championship level mentality. That's a big factor to being a champion. It's not just the physical side, it's the mental side as well.
 
I think Whittaker is the biggest threat to Izzy at 185 of all the Top 5ish guys. I saw a lot of things in that Gastelum bout that I liked from him: good, technical straight punches complemented by plenty of feints, lateral movement, and extensive use of offensive wrestling. These are the kind of things that actually stand a chance at making Israel break a sweat rather than blitz after blitz, winging looping punches... it's not so different from Jan's blueprint, in fact.

The question is simply if Israel is wrestlefuckable by grapplers at 185 pounds, especially since he seems to have been making improvements post-Jan.

MeltGibsont said:
Did he slip on a banana peel and break his arm? no? Rob broke his arm with a kick then proceeded to beat that ass.....clown
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I tend to agree with sentiments like this -- people need to acknowledge that Robert threw a damaging strike with intent and thus any adverse effects Cannonier dealt with during the bout were fair play and not "flukey" or whatever is sometimes thrown around. However, that being said, I don't think it's inherently nefarious to say that the early injury had a big role in how the fight played out -- so long as you're not being a salty revisionist about the whole thing. Just my two cents.

JonJonesNeedle said:
Sure, the guy who got beat by Magny is gonna become champ.

Kelvin at 170 has always been overrated. At 185, Kelvin may be smaller but he's much faster than his opponents. Speed kills. Not the same case at 170lb
Click to expand...

I'm a big Magny fan and not so huge on Kelvin, but the judges did Neil a big favor with their scoring on that one. With modern scoring criteria, that would have easily been a draw -- possibly even a win for Gastelum.
 
Well, yeah. Rob 2.0 is the fucking truth!
 
podsox said:
Rob was clearly winning prior to the injury too
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The injury was early, first round, but that doesn’t even matter because rob caused it. I just don’t think we should be sleeping on Jared or judging him based on that performance.
 
DOMMA said:
Kelvin loses this fight and is forced to move to 170 where he should have been his entire career. He is way to small to compete at 185 and his record proves it.

Kelvin at 170 is a title contender. Kelvin should consider 155 as well. He is a pudgy 185 and carries fat at 170.
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It would be impossible for Kelvin to make 155lbs, look at the width of his shoulders and center mass.

No doubt he can make 170lbs and be successful, arguably he would be a title contender. If the weight classes shifted to 155, 165, 175 I could see him fitting in really well at the updated welterweight. Its a shame we don't have the added division to spread these guys out more appropriately.

I fear Kelvin is going to stay at 185lbs however, and his career will end as a journeyman middleweight. He's a real talent so he can beat the guys who don't belong, and struggle against top 10.
 
JonJonesNeedle said:
Dude Kelvin came in considerably heavy for that fight and should have lost. He doesn't have championship level mentality. That's a big factor to being a champion. It's not just the physical side, it's the mental side as well.
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I think everyone agrees Kelvin doesn't have the mental side. He had a bad weight cut & actually underperformed, it is definitely possible he could've beat Tyron. Not saying he'd be favoured, but when Tyron was champ, it was totally a reasonable possibility for Kelvin at that point. He was on the same level as Tyron
 
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