UFC 316 is getting a big time middleweight matchup that was supposed to take place a couple of weeks ago. On MMA Today, the head coach of Joe Pyfer (13-3) announced that the fight with Kelvin Gastelum (19-9) has been rebooked and it’ll take place at the June 7th PPV in New Jersey. This fight was supposed to take place at UFC Mexico, but Pyfer had to pull out the day of the fight after getting sick.
Pyfer will be looking for the biggest win of his career when he makes the walk in June. Pyfer earned a contract on The Contender Series and blitzed through his first three opponents inside the octagon. The UFC gave him a main event against Jack Hermansson and the lack of main event experience showed in that fight where he dropped a decision.
Pyfer returned last June where he took on Marc-Andre Barriault. In that fight, Pyfer looked like his normal self and he knocked out his opponent in the first round. Now, he’ll try to defeat a former interim title challenger.
UFC 316
Kelvin Gastelum is officially back up at 185 after another failed stint at welterweight. Gastelum had his best moments at middleweight, but if he could be disciplined with his weight, his ideal weight class is welterweight. Gastelum said he was dedicated to taking his career seriously in dropping down to 170 last December.
Gastelum made the weight with ease but he ultimately lost to top contender Sean Brady. He returned back in June against Daniel Rodriguez and the fight was supposed to be at 170. However, his camp informed the UFC that he wasn’t going to come close to making welterweight so they made the fight a middleweight matchup.
Gastelum won by decision, but the promotion wasn’t happy. It was made clear after the last attempt that he wouldn’t get another shot at welterweight and now we see that’s the case as he’ll be taking on Pyfer at 185.