Michael Bisping is doubling down on his criticism of former opponent Kelvin Gastelum.
In the featured bout of UFC Saudi Arabia this past Saturday, Gastelum defeated Daniel Rodriguez via unanimous decision in a middleweight bout. The fight was originally set to take place at welterweight, but Gastelum has issues making the cut, and Rodriguez agreed to the fight taking place up a weight class.
During the fight, Bisping served as a color commentator and was firing verbal shots about Gastelum throughout the fight after — once again — having issues on the scale. On the UFC’s post-fight show, Bisping continued to express his disappointment in Gastelum.
“Listen, Dominick Cruz, if you were speaking to him, he would’ve said that people miss weight on purpose, [that] they use it as a strategy because Kelvin Gastelum clearly wasn’t dieting throughout training camp,” Bisping said.
On his Instagram stories following the fight, Rodriguez said the weight difference was a clear factor in the fight — most notably in the third round where Gastelum landed some fight-clinching takedowns. “DRod” also said that he ended up getting a new six-fight deal, a pay raise, and “30 percent” of Gastelum’s purse for competing in an unfair situation.
Bisping praised Rodriguez for his efforts, and even gave Gastelum credit for his ability to keep his gas tank in check. But, that’s were the praise ended.
“[Rodriguez] wanted to weigh in at 170 pounds, whereas Gastelum clearly wasn’t doing that throughout the training camp, so therefore you’re stronger, you’re more athletic, you recover from your training sessions quicker, and you come into the fight stronger and heavier,” Bisping explained. “Both men had a tremendous fight, I thought Daniel Rodriguez should be proud of himself, [he] really, really pushed Gastelum to the limit.
“Gastelum — even though he was heavy — still managed to keep a good pace for 15 minutes. The takedowns in Round 3 were kind of essential because Rodriguez was starting to find the mark in the cage. It was a great fight, it really was, both men should be proud of themselves.
“But Kelvin Gastelum — regarding the weight situation — should be ashamed of himself.”
It was the fourth time Gastelum has had struggles with the scale as he missed weight by nearly two pounds for his June 2014 matchup with Nico Musoke, had a huge miss for his UFC 180 bout with Tyron Woodley that ended up being a 180-pound catchweight, a huge miss that led to his scheduled UFC 205 bout with Donald Cerrone being cancelled the day before the historic card at Madison Square Garden.
UFC CEO Dana White also expressed his disappointment towards Gastelum during the post-fight press conference, citing other fighters on the UFC Saudi Arabia card going through incredible adversity to make weight in much shorter order.
“You got kids taking fights on a week’s notice, jumping on cards, coming over here and making weight and Kelvin doesn’t make weight,” White said. “It’s extremely disappointing.”