Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Rodriguez at the official weigh-in for UFC Saudi Arabia. Credit: Youtube/UFC
Saturday’s UFC in Saudi Arabia event was not without its upsets, with numerous cancellations and last-minute opponent changes, but the drama didn’t end there, with Kelvin Gastelum struggling with weight throughout training camp and moving up a weight class to face Daniel Rodriguez.
Coming into the middleweight bout, Gastelum had just one win in his previous four fights and his opponent, Daniel Rodriguez, had lost two in a row.
The bout began with the two fighters engaging quickly in the center of the Octagon. D-Rod moved around on the outside, throwing jabs. Kelvin caught a kick from Rodriguez, briefly sending Rodriguez to the ground. Both men began fighting on their feet, trying to find their distance. Gastelum showed good head movement while looking to land a jab and cross combination. Around the middle of the round, Kelvin landed a punch to the body, a shot to the head, and another overhand to the head. D-Rod was still moving laterally, but his punches just fell short.
With about 90 seconds left in the round, Gastelum launched a flurry of punches against the cage. Daniel responded with a flurry of boxing blows in the center of the Octagon. With just seconds left in the round, Kelvin backed Rodriguez up against the cage and attempted to land a hard overhand left. Daniel defended well and fired back with several punches before the end of the round.
In the second round, Daniel moved around and threw a jab, which Kelvin quickly followed up with a leg kick. Gastelum kept coming at his opponent, dodging and eating a few punches. Daniel deflected a blow to Kelvin’s head as Gastelum kept coming forward. Rodriguez began to land his jab a little more freely and followed up with a cross. Kelvin landed a well-timed double leg takedown, but Daniel was able to get to his feet and sustained minimal damage.
Rodriguez landed some good punch combinations, alternating between targeting Gastelum’s body and head. With about a minute left in the round, Gastelum landed a nice leg kick, followed by a punch that knocked Daniel’s head back. Daniel fought back quickly, landing some good short counters on his opponent. In the literal last second of the round, Kelvin scored an easy takedown.
In the early minutes of the final round, Kelvin was bouncing on his feet, moving in and out of range. Rodriguez landed a few punches, but seemed a little slow. Gastelum was moving in and out of range, throwing leg kicks and blocking many of the punches coming his way with his arms. Midway through the round, Kelvin backed his opponent against the cage and landed a powerful takedown. Gastelum landed in side control, choking his opponent and landing short strikes. Kelvin transitioned to modified mount and landed some more powerful strikes, but D-Rod kicked him away with about 30 seconds left. It didn’t last long, as Gastelum again landed a double leg takedown. Gastelum landed some ground-and-pound as the final seconds of the bout ticked off.
“I’m sorry, but what happened this week is unacceptable,” Gastelum Kelvin said in his post-fight interview, addressing the “elephant in the room.” He added that he would “get better,” and offered an emotional apology to the fans, Daniel Rodriguez and UFC executives, acknowledging that being underweight was a recurring issue for him.
Official result: Kelvin Gastelum defeats Daniel Rodriguez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
