Dana White lays down the law on Kelvin Gastelum at welterweight

Kelvin Gastelum

Kelvin Gastelum didn’t exactly get reaction he hoped to get from UFC President Dana White following his dominant win over middleweight Nate Marquardt at Saturday’s UFC 188.

White put the kibosh on his hopes of moving back to the welterweight division, which he was forced to vacate after two misses on the scale.

“He’s done nothing to prove he can make 170 pounds, and when he doesn’t make 170 pounds, it’s dangerous and it screws a lot of things up around here,” said White at the event’s post-fight press conference at Mexico City Arena.

Gastelum (11-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) made his UFC debut at 185 pounds and battered Marquardt (33-15-2 MMA, 11-8 UFC) on the UFC 188 pay-per-view main card en route to a second-round TKO. But it appears he won’t be fighting at 170 pounds any time soon, according to White.

“I love this kid,” White said at the post-event press conference at Mexico City Arena. “He’s such a great fighter. I love how he goes in with a kid like Marquardt and stands right in the pocket with him and exchanges. His standup looked great tonight. But I don’t believe he can make 170. I honestly don’t believe he can make 170.

“He’s going to have to get serious and get a nutritionist. He had to cut to make 185, and he came in right on the nose, so I am the furthest from confident that he is capable of making 170, no matter how much I like him, or how much he says he can do it, I don’t believe him.”

Gastelum, who prior to the fight said he could be a mediocre middleweight or a welterweight champion, couldn’t offer much in the way of a counter-argument.

“Like he said, I haven’t done anything to prove it,” Gastelum said. “But actions speak louder than words, so now that he said I need to prove it, I’m going to prove it.”

If that were enough for White, it would be one thing. But the UFC boss said he isn’t sitting on the fence.

“That means no,” he said. “(At middleweight), he looked healthy, he didn’t look like he was going to die at the weigh-ins, and he looked great tonight. So if you’re me, or anybody who even remotely cares about the kid, where would you want him to fight At 185.

“I get it, he wants to be at 170, but he’s going to have to do something do something to get to 170. Just training and whatever he’s been doing hasn’t been cutting it.”’

Gastelum has, in fact, worked with nutrition guru Mike Dolce, the face of UFC Fit, for several fights at welterweight. The two had an on-and-off relationship, however, with Gastelum at one point claiming Dolce was too expensive and Dolce saying the “TUF 17” winner needed more discipline.

Now, Gastelum presumably has lesser need for guidance as a 185-pound fighter. But if he wants to ever fight at 170 pounds, a reunion may be in order. Unless, of course, he wants to face the prospect of fighting Chris Weidman, which, from the sound of it, he doesn’t.

“He’s proven he can make it, but he looks like he’s about to die, and he’s got to go back and try one more time,” White said. “It’s not healthy, it’s not good for him, and it’s definitely not good for us.”

For more on UFC 188, check out the UFC Events section of the site.