Kelvin Gastelum says he has one UFC fight left and has to win it: 'the end is coming soon'
The 35-year-old says a renewal would be his last UFC deal, and he faces Rodolfo Vieira in a no-gi match in Rio on 13 November.
Kelvin Gastelum says he is down to the last fight on his UFC contract and has to win it to get a new one.
"I have one fight left on my contract, man," Gastelum said in a recent interview quoted by MMA Mania. "We want to renew — this next fight is very important. I gotta win this fight. They want to renew my contract."
The 35-year-old said the next deal would be the end of the road. "I think after I renew and I complete that contract, I'm going to ride off into my own sunset," he said. "I got a few good ones left in the chamber, but I know the end is coming soon."
"Until that happens, I'll tell you what: I still believe I'm one of the best fighters in the world, and I know I can compete with the best of them," he added. "I don't just say it to say it. I say it because I truly mean it. A lot of that competition is still in me; I just haven't been able to display it. The last few years have not gone the way I wanted them to."
Gastelum has alternated wins and losses in six straight UFC appearances dating back to 2023. Vicente Luque submitted him in the first round at UFC 327 in April. His win before that, over Dustin Stoltzfus, came after he weighed in at 191 pounds, five above the middleweight limit, and forfeited 35 percent of his purse. No opponent has been announced for his next UFC fight.
He is also booked to face Rodolfo Vieira in a no-gi match in the co-main event of ACBJJ 23 in Rio de Janeiro on 13 November, the card on which Edson Barboza returns three months after retiring.
Gastelum knocked out England's Michael Bisping in the first round in Shanghai in November 2017, and lost to Israel Adesanya in their interim middleweight title fight at UFC 236 in 2019.
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