Kelvin Gastelum has been counted out throughout the entirety of his MMA career, but now he’s just days away from fulfilling what looks like his destiny.
More often than not, there is a justifiable reason behind every little decision, incident, or action taken in life. How things got to where they are and why they did in whatever fashion they came, whether it’s for good or bad. As Murphy’s Law states, ‘anything that can go wrong will go wrong.’ Although the tone presented in that famous quote is usually perceived negatively, the underlying fact is that it doesn’t mean good things won’t happen as well. And when they do, there will be a reason for them too.
In sports, one of the rarest yet most adored sights that a spectator can witness is the upset. The one that is supposed to win ends up being toppled by the overlooked and counted out opposition. Because it might not happen every single time out… But if things can go wrong, they certainly will eventually.
This theory couldn’t be any truer than it is in the sport of MMA and we’ve seen it proven time and time again. Whether it be in the form of said upsets like Georges St-Pierre being dethroned by Matt Serra, or when a long-reigning legend finally yet unimaginably falls from their perch like Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell or Fedor Emelianenko.
However, in both instances, they always have one thing in common… And that’s an underdog coming in to shake things up.
This Saturday night at UFC 236, Kelvin Gastelum will compete in his first career title fight when he takes on undefeated striking sensation, Israel Adesanya for the interim UFC middleweight crown. And once again, he’ll be the betting underdog in the eyes of the oddsmakers.
At just 21-years old with a perfect 5-0 record, the San Jose, California native was cast onto season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter. Picked last overall by his coach that season in Chael Sonnen, the fiery young wrestler would go on to win the entire season dominantly and become the youngest fighter to ever do so in the show’s history.
Immediately following the win, Gastelum would try his hand in the 170-pound welterweight division and still find himself having to prove himself more than most despite his continued success. But along with that comes a lack of certain expectations.
“That’s just the storybook of my career is being the underdog,” Gastelum told FanSided. “Just because… I think it’s my height. I’m so much smaller than every other middleweight, I might be the smallest middleweight on the roster. And so people count me out. They see me, they see a little pudgy Mexican and there’s no way he can fight.
“I like it. Just because it’s not pressure. Absolutely no pressure for me at all, just come in there and surprise everybody. And the spotlight’s not on me, I don’t really like the spotlight on me. I just stick to myself for the most part.”
Continued: Kelvin Gastelum is the perpetual underdog with destiny calling his name
