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Gastelum reiterates desire to drop back down to welterweight

Jason da Silva / USA TODAY Sports

Coming off of his first loss at 185 pounds, Kelvin Gastelum is certain that his future is at welterweight.

Gastelum was submitted by Chris Weidman in the middleweight main event of UFC on FOX 25, and post-fight he confirmed that he is still planning to move back to 170 pounds, a sentiment he has expressed on several occasions in the past.

"I feel like 170 is my home," said Gastelum. "I feel like I need to reassess some things, change the lifestyle up a little bit.

"I'm already planning on going to Vegas to the UFC (Performance) Institute, they have great dietitians there that I'm going to be working with and strength and conditioning coaches that I'm going to be working with. I think my next fight should be at 170."

As a welterweight, Gastelum has a 5-2 record in the UFC, though that includes a pair of bouts in which he failed to hit the 170-lb mark. His weight cutting problems also led to him being removed entirely from a November 2016 fight with Donald Cerrone.

Gastelum is currently No. 8 in the UFC's official 185-lb rankings, but he's long maintained that pursuing gold at welterweight is his preference.

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