Breaking: Kelvin Gastelum announces shift to welterweight, details title aspirations and 'rebirth'

It appears as though Kelvin Gastelum is set to return to welterweight and has his sights set on eventually becoming UFC welterweight champion.

Gastelum took to Twitter to officially announce that he will be moving down to 170lbs. In the video he included in his tweet, he mentioned that he views this as an opportuntiy to make a welterweight title run and plans to approach his weight cut differently than his past experience competing in the weight-division.

He said:

"I am making an official announcement. An official drop down to 170 [lbs]. Expect my next fight to be at 170 [lbs], I'm gonna get shredded! I hope. And I think I can make another title run at that weight class, I think I can make it...This is a second chance, this is a renaissance in my career, this is a rebirth."

Official announcement ‼️ https://t.co/ZKVwhhBJY2

The former TUF winner also addressed why he decided to move back down to welterweight at this stage of his career. He mentioned that he believes that he is more mature and expects to be more discipled, saying:

"Before I was young, I was dumb, I was stupid, undisciplined. But now that I'm older, hopefully a little bit more mature and smarter, hopefully! Everybody knows this has always been my weight class to go to, but it really just takes me to decide that I want to do it and now I decide that I want to do it, and I'm going to do it."

When did Kelvin Gastelum last fight?

Kelvin Gastelum most recently fought last month at UFC 287 in Miami, Florida, where he earned a unanimous decision win over Chris Curtis.

It was an entertaining bout, with both fighters earning a post-fight bonus for Fight of the Night. The win was significant for the former TUF winner as it snapped his two-fight losing skid, which included losses to Jared Cannonier and former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.

The 31-year-old is now in an interesting spot as a big win against a top-10 ranked welterweight could put him in the mix for a title shot.

These two definitely put on a show! 🤩

@KelvinGastelum and @Actionman513 clearly deserves the distinction of #UFC287's FOTN! https://t.co/FDfZgKZOGc