Let’s play with the idea that a dedicated Gastelum could make 155 cleanly....

[Destino2018]

Would you encourage this if you were a coach or partner of his or would you let him stay at 185 and maybe iron out the kinks in his game? 170 I seen him getting wrestlefucked to oblivion.

 

[Kyler Ruxin]

I don't think he can do 155. I would definitely encourage 170 though. 185 is just ridiculous for him.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

He has to cheat to make 185, no way in hell he makes 155. Not even if he got his diet in check. I don't see him ever going back to 170 either.

 

[Slatersan]

He gave the 185 champ his hardest fight.

 

[Destino2018]

He gave the 185 champ his hardest fight.

Matched up well with him and will never make it back to the top for a rematch. Their careers are on different trajectories it’s almost poetic. Gastelum gave it his all just to hang with Izzy that night and he never really left the cage that night either. At 185 he’s done at a high level so 170 and 155 is his best bet. Other than that prepare for another loss in his upcoming fight.

 

[Skarsgard]

He'd be far too slow at 155. He just needs to be a bit more disciplined in between camps and keep his weight down so he doesn't have a stupid cut to 170.

 

[Iron Skin]

He is too wide for 155lbs

 

[HaulParris]

Inb4 165lb division.

But seriously, he's undersized at 185 but would have to kill himself to make 155.

 

[Steroids**]

what the shit? his trainer doesn't even look fit.. just skinny fat.. Should be having him deadlift and squat.. but nope.. let me just lazily throw the medicine ball up in the air and be like the Chavez Jr of mma.. what a fucking joke.

 

[Johnnny]

Gastelum is a natural lightweight. If he was disciplined enough to reduce his body fat to 9%, he could make 155 easily.

For his last fight at welterweight (UFC 200), Gastelum made weight right on the dot at 171 lbs, but he still had love handles. Johny Hendricks missed weight and Gastelum still had flabbier love handles than he did.

Gastelum had at least 17% body fat there as a welterweight. Since he missed weight a few times, he was likely trying to cut a lot of water, probably around 12%, which means he was around 194 lbs fully hydrated.

If he went from 17% body fat to 12% which is about average for a UFC fighter, he would be 183 lbs fully hydrated. That is very light for a welterweight. Khabib cuts to lightweight from only a few pounds less than that. If Gastelum got shredded, down to 9% body fat for example, he would be 177 lbs fully hydrated. There are plenty of fighters that cut to lightweight from there.

Gastelum isn't too big for welterweight, he's naturally on the small side for the division. He just carries a lot of body fat even at welterweight.

Look at the Top 15 welterweights. None of them are shorter than Gastelum. Burns is the only one who has a shorter reach than him. Gastelum has a wide torso, but it looks wider because he carries a lot of fat there. The weight that a naturally wide torso would add is offset by the fact that his legs are skinny compared to other welterweights.

Gastelum's measurements are much more in line with the Top 15 lightweights. He is taller than only 20% of the Top 15 and he has longer reacher than only 40% of the Top 15.

Gastelum will likely never have the discipline to get to 9% body fat to compete at lightweight where he would be at a level playing field. But he should at least have the discipline to get to 12-13% body fat to make the cut to 170 very easy.

 

[pietrobox]

He gave the 185 champ his hardest fight.

Romero came a lot closer to beating Adesanya than Gastelum did

 

[Flying omoplata]

Romero came a lot closer to beating Adesanya than Gastelum did

oh god don't remind me about that fight

 

[pietrobox]

oh god don't remind me about that fight

 

[GangGangGang]

Lets play with the idea that this is an awful thread

 

[AtaTheCrow]

Gastelum is to wide for LW.
He gave Adesanya his hardest fight, beat Hall, Kennedy, Belfort, Bisping, Souza at MW...
He was for sure one of the Top5 MW guys at the time.

Is like wanting from DC to fight at MW...

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

Very stupid idea imo (no offense)

1) it's physically impossible, KG isn't making 155 ever.

2) 155 is the most stacked division, at the higher weight classes he has very fast hand speed and blitzes. At 155, he would probably be slower than all/most of his opponent. So what's the point in having the size advantage? He doesn't wrestle almost at all in his fights.

3) KG has looked better at 185 than he ever did at 170, so there is no evidence that weight cut is good for his performances specifically.

Finally, I don't understand why people are so sure he is done at 185. The Joker fight was off but prior to that he had two razor close fights with Till and Adesanya, so it's not like he can't hang with the best of the division (despite what his recent record would suggest). He is only 29 yo too.

 

[MDoza]

Gastelum's giant head won't allow him to get to 155 lbs.

 

[MMAProfessional]

I think it's more about his discipline but no way he makes LW. We should be happy if he ever goes back down to WW. I think he'll need to have a big fall at MW for him to push himself for that and IMO if he loses this weekend that should be enough of a wakeup call. I get he's done pretty well at MW but a lot of the problems he's had were that he was just too small. Especially in the Weidman fight he showed his standup was on point but Weidman could muscle him to the ground and Jacare had moments of that.

 

[pick999]

Romero came a lot closer to beating Adesanya than Gastelum did

Kevin was literally one punch away from winning the title

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Gastelum is to wide for LW.
He gave Adesanya his hardest fight, beat Hall, Kennedy, Belfort, Bisping, Souza at MW...
He was for sure one of the Top5 MW guys at the time.

Is like wanting from DC to fight at MW...

Dc should have fought at MW lol. He was undisciplined with his diet, ate a lot of shit, and as a consequence was fighting guys that had ten inches on him.