Kelvin Gastelum Details Plan To Beat ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone

No. 5-ranked Kelvin Gastelum will face a tough task at Nov. 12’s UFC 205 when he meets former lightweight title challenger turned surging welterweight contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone on the event’s main card.

Cerrone has won three straight by way of stoppage since moving up to 170-pounds after suffering two defeats to former lightweight king Rafael dos Anjos, a man who has also trained under Gastelum’s trainer Rafael Cordeiro. Because of this, Gastelum feels as if he will have the strategy to beat “Cowboy”:

“They’ve figured out a formula on how to beat him,” Gastelum said when speaking to FOX Sports. “They’ve beat him twice and Master Rafael Cordeiro, I told him ‘what do you think about this fight?’ He said ‘no problem, we beat him twice, we’ll beat him again.’ I’m feeling pretty good.”

Gastelum also feels as if his strength, speed, and southpaw stance will help lead him towards a victory over Cerrone in New York:

“Donald doesn’t do very good against southpaws. I believe he’s about 2-5 against southpaws,” Gastelum said. “”Only wins against Benson Henderson and Rick Story recently and he’s had problems against Nate Diaz, against Rafael dos Anjos twice, against Benson Henderson twice, so he’s had problems with southpaws that give him trouble.””

“I think I’m a bigger, stronger version of Rafael dos Anjos. I can come forward with that same style of pressure, except I’m going to be faster and stronger than Rafael was.”

With Cerrone being ranked at No. 6 within the division, this fight holds major title implications for both men, and Gastelum plans to continue his trek towards the gold:

“I’m ranked top five in the division and that’s where I want to keep going,” Gastelum said. “I want to keep moving up, I want to move up the rankings and hopefully get a title shot after this fight.”

The 170-pound title is also set to be defended at UFC 205 when champion Tyron Woodley meets Stephen Thompson in the co-main event.