LAS VEGAS – Kelvin Gastelum doesn’t care about the past, or the distant future. He’s focused on the task at hand, which is going into UFC 258 and defeating Ian Heinisch.
Gastelum (16-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) and Heinisch (14-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will fight Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas in a three-round middleweight bout on the pay-per-view main card, with Gastelum on a three-fight losing skid.
When he entered an interim UFC middleweight title fight against Israel Adesanya in April 2019, Gastelum was riding a two-fight winning streak. He lost to Adesanya in the “Fight of the Year” before dropping a split decision to Darren Till in November 2019. In July 2020, Gastelum was submitted by Jack Hermansson in 78 seconds.
“To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it much,” Gastelum told MMA Junkie at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday when asked about the skid. “I’ve just been concentrating on this fight and concentrating on Ian Heinisch and being more present – being more aware and more present into who Ian Heinisch is. That’s who I’m focused on.”
Being “present,” Gastelum elaborated, means he’s concentrating on what’s in front of him. The past doesn’t matter. He attributes recent defeats to a snowball effect. He’s been too eager to erase them rather than learn from them.
“For my past two fights, I’ve maybe gotten away from that a little bit,” Gastelum said. “I’ve thought about my loss. After Israel, I wanted to get back on the horse and fight Darren Till. I knew that if I won, it might’ve propelled me to where I wanted to be. (It was) the same thing with the Jack Hermansson fight. I knew I needed to get back on a winning streak. I was just focused on more ahead than actually being present and focusing on my actual opponent.”
Despite the recent struggles to reenter the win column, Gastelum hasn’t lost confidence. UFC 258 will be another chance to prove what he believes: He’s still one of the best middleweights in the world.
“Not for a second (have I doubted myself),” Gastelum said. “I know who I am, and I know how good I can be. I’m excited to show that on Saturday.”
UFC 258 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.