Gastelum recently suffered a loss at the hands of Tyron Woodley.
Here’s what he had to say about it.
“I will admit, I am a little salty on that Woodley fight. I am a little hurt still after all those years. I want that rematch and I know I can beat him. I know I can make the weight.”
“I was immature, young and stupid. I feel like I learned from all those experiences. There has been a lot of trial and error in my career. When I fought him I was 23 years old, just a lot of trial and error in my career,” he added. “Finally were putting it all together. This is my thirteenth UFC fight, and we’re putting all the good and the bad experiences to make something that hopefully works.”
“I got to be up there in those discussions, whether I fight for the middleweight title or welterweight title. I have always had my eyes set on that welterweight title, a rematch against Tyron. I win this fight I might’ve permanently cemented myself as a Middleweight whether I like it or not.”
“I didn’t want to go from fighting the greatest of all time to just fighting Joe Schmoe – that just wouldn’t make sense for me, for my career,” Gastelum said “I want to keep making steps forward, not making steps backward. … I was really happy we got a replacement. I was really happy that Mike stepped up – how badass is he? I feel this is actually an even bigger fight for my career.”
“It doesn’t matter to me, but it would be cool if I got a little bit of credit, too, for stepping up and accepting the fight,” he said. “This will be my third or fourth former champion that I’ve fought in the last 12 months. I don’t think people have been giving me credit for the fights I’ve been taking in the last 12 months. This will be my third main event in a row. (But) I’m just riding the wave.”
Watch the full interview HERE.
