It was story time with Uncle Chael, as he shared a hilarious incident of Kelvin Gastelum cutting weight of about 14-pounds by eating potatoes.
Kelvin Gastelum is set to take on Robert Whittaker in a few hours time. The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner will be looking to get that W and challenge for the title soon.
But, the number 8 ranked middleweight fighter has always had his fair share of problems with cutting weight, right from the beginning of his career, and that’s probably the reason why he is a middleweight despite being only 5ft 9in.
Elsewhere, former UFC fighter and analyst, who is also a YouTuber, Chael Sonnen had a hilarious incident to share about Gastelum cutting weight. It was from his time as a coach in the Ultimate Fighter Season 17, and Gastelum was in Team Sonnen.
Since, Gastelum had trouble cutting weight, Sonnen had then advised him to do a weight check before the weigh-in (during the Ultimate Fighter Season 17) while sending him home.
Uncle Chael narrated what happened that night:
“Kelvin’s always had weight issues and he’s gotta weigh in three times through this process. So, it’s a lot of weigh-ins, all in a 30-day period. I say goodbye to him at 5 o’clock on a Tuesday and I’m going to check on him the next following morning at 9am which is when I tell him to do a weight check because the weigh-ins are going to be that afternoon at 1pm. He goes home and he is 14 pounds overweight.”
He continued :
“Luke (Barnatt) walks on Kelvin in the kitchen and Kelvin’s got like a big cheese grater and he’s got a big potato, and he’s cutting it and shredding it and he grabs the next potato, and goes on. And he’s got a frying pan with about a half inch of oil. A stunned Luke asks Kelvin – ‘What are you doing?’. And, Kelvin says ‘I’m fueling my body'”.
A beaming Sonnen, then explained in the video, what Kelvin meant by I’m fueling my body. He said Gastelum had decided to consume that much potato to prepare himself for the intense weight cut he was going to put him through, in the next few hours.
Sonnen said :
“To have the energy that he knew was gonna need to be exerted to get the 14 pounds off he was going to need some calories.”
Gastelum feeling better than ever ahead of Whittaker bout
Gastelum is coming into the bout, off a unanimous decision victory against Ian Heinisch, which helped him stop a three-fight skid. The hard-as-nails Gastelum is yet to be finished in his MMA career, with all his losses coming either via. decision or submission.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, at the media day, Gastelum revealed that he is a much better than he was two years ago, and will be looking forward to keeping his juggernaut rolling.
“I feel better than what I did in February. I’m a much better version of that. I’m a much better version than I was two years ago. And, I’m excited.” [via MMA Junkie]
He, then acknowledged Whittaker as well, claiming that he has become much better and smarter. Gastelum was quoted as saying, “He’s gotten better. And, smarter.”
A win here might even put him face to face with the champ Israel Adesanya, since he put on a warrior’s performance the last time he faced the ‘Last Stylebender’.
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