Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Curtis put on a show in UFC 287 prelim headliner
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, April 8, 2023, for UFC 287, going down live from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Headlining the event is a middleweight championship rematch, or quadrilogy, however you look at it, as current champion Alex Pereira (7-1) aims to make the first defense of his newly claimed title opposing former champion Israel Adesanya (23-2).
Co-headlining the event is a welterweight contenders’ bout between a pair of former title challengers where no. 5 ranked Gilbert Burns (21-5) takes on no. 11 ranked Jorge Masvidal (35-16).
Headlining the preliminary card tonight was a middleweight matchup between former interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum (17-8, 1 NC) and former CES welterweight champion Chris Curtis (30-10).
Gastelum, following a 6-2 streak from 2015-2018 that saw him defeat the likes of five former world champions, has since gone 1-5 over his latest six appearances, while Curtis has gone 4-1 thus far into his UFC tenure.
Continue reading to see how this 185 lb match up went down:
Official Result: Kelvin Gastelum def. Chris Curtis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Both men open up the bout trading leg kicks, as Gastelum gets his jab established early on.
Curtis lands a thunderous two-punch combination, though Gastelum remains unfazed. Gastelum then catches him with a nice left cross that momentarily stuns Curtis.
Gastelum continues to pick Curtis apart throughout the opening round with great timing on that cross of his, as well as his leg kicks.
Curtis suffers a headbutt in round two and goes down, as the referee doesn’t see it, Gastelum is in top turtle position reigning down heavy punches. As Gastelum attempts to take the back he slips off and they’re back to striking.
Though Gastelum is doing a great job with his timing and footwork, still landing his leg kicks as well as some heavy punches, Curtis is able to get his way into boxing range and land vicious punches in combination to both the head and body.
Gastelum and Curtis continue to go to war throughout the third and final round; Curtis continues to land nasty combinations and Gastelum continues eating them whilst dishing out his own offense.
It is truly remarkable how durable and tough Gastelum is. The man has never been knocked out, never finished via strikes, and that’s amazing considering what he went through tonight.
Kelvin Gastelum gets back to his winning ways at UFC 287.
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