Tomorrow night on the main card of UFC Austin, we are going to see an absolute banger in the welterweight division. Former interim middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum (18-8) is moving back down to welterweight as he takes on top contender Sean Brady (15-1).
Gastelum is fighting at welterweight for the first time since 2016. This is the weight class he likely should’ve been in all along, but he struggled making the weight. Now, he’s rededicated himself and has moved back down to welterweight. The last time we saw him was at 185 when he put on a great performance against Chris Curtis back in April.
Gastelum was originally supposed to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov in September, but after suffering a cut, he got pushed back to December and this bout with Brady. Sean Brady also had his last bout rescheduled. Brady was supposed to fight Jack Della Maddalena in July, but he had to pull out and he’s finally getting back in the cage.
The last time we saw Brady was October 2022 when he suffered his first loss and was stopped by Belal Muhammad. Brady had a lot of hype prior to that bout and that loss really gave people pause. He’s hoping to re-establish himself at UFC Austin with a big win over Gastelum.
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The Belal Muhammad loss really cooled me on Sean Brady with the lack of skills he had on the feet. We know how good Brady is in terms of his grappling and how well he does when he can take down his opponents. However, if he cannot, he might find himself in trouble.
Kelvin Gastelum is going to have the advantage on the feet. Despite coming down from 185, I also think he’s going to have the speed advantage over Brady tomorrow at UFC Austin. If he can stop the takedowns of Brady, I think the stars are aligning for Gastelum to get the big win tomorrow.
I’m expecting Gastelum to thrive in the second and third rounds tomorrow. In the third round, I think he will really start to pour things on and ultimately I think that he will get the finish handing Brady his second straight loss.
Prediction: Kelvin Gastelum by TKO – Round 2