Kelvin Gastelum Suspended 6 Months By NYSAC
Kelvin Gastelum didn’t compete at UFC 205 against Donald Cerrone because at the day of the weigh-ins, Gastelum had reportedly weighed 10 pounds over the welterweight weight limit of 170 pounds.
In fact, Gastelum didn’t even show up to weigh in and that has caught the eye of the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC). The NYSAC has handed Gastelum a six-month suspension for failure to show up to the weigh ins. It’s retroactive and that means that Gastelum can return to action on June 6 of 2017.
Gastelum’s longtime manager, Ali Abdelaziz, in a statement to ESPN, stated that he plans on appealing the ruling by the commission.
Gastelum has missed weight a total of three times since coming over to the UFC, the situation has gotten so bad that UFC President Dana White stated that Gastelum will have to compete at middleweight if he wishes to stay in the UFC. Gastelum wasn’t the only fighter to miss weight at the event, lightweight fighter Thiago Alves did as well, but Alves still weighed in to fight Jim Miller at UFC 205.
This suspension is much different than standards suspensions as it's simply an administrative suspension. This type of suspension doesn't have to be recognized by other commissions. so Gastelum could fight in the next six months, just not in New York.
Gastelum was rumored to be replacing Rashad Evans at UFC 206, where he would be fighting Tim Kennedy. There's no word on if that fight will actually go down as of yet.
