Kelvin Gastelum followed a 5-pound weight miss at UFC Fight Night 259 with a victory over Dustin Stoltzfus in an entertaining affair.
Gastelum (19-10 MMA, 14-10 UFC) weighed in at 191 pounds for Saturday’s middleweight bout with Stoltzfus (16-8 MMA, 3-7 UFC) at Noche UFC from Front Bank Arena in San Antonio, Texas, then managed to showcase some superior striking power for a unanimous decision win by scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
It was mostly a striking affair over 15 minutes. Gastelum opened up a cut on his opponent early and scored a pair of knockdowns. Stoltzfus hung tough and had some moments of his own but not enough to steal the result from “The Ultimate Fighter” winner.
“It’s bittersweet,” Gastelum said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “I took this fight on four weeks’ notice. I wasn’t able to make the weight on four weeks’ time. I want to apologize to Dustin and his team. … I’m just thankful I had the courage to get in here and get the job done.”
Up-to-the-minute Noche UFC results:
- Kelvin Gastelum def. Dustin Stoltzfus via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Alexander Hernandez def. Diego Ferreira via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:46
- Santiago Luna def. Quang Le via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:48
- Dusko Todorovic def. Jose Medina via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:21
- Joaquim Silva def. Claudio Puelles via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Tatiana Suarez def. Amanda Lemos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jesus Aguilar def. Luis Gurule via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Sedriques Dumas vs. Zachary Reese declared no contest (accidental low blow to Dumas) – Round 1, 0:51
- Alden Coria def. Alessandro Costa via TKO (injury) – Round 3, 0:47
- Montserrat Rendon def. Alice Pereira via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Daniil Donchenko def. Rodrigo Sezinando via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:27
