It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty, and that was good enough to get Kelvin Gastelum back in the win column Saturday night.
The former interim middleweight title challenger went back to basics and earned himself a main-card victory over Ian Heinisch at UFC 258. The judges’ scores at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas were 30-27, 30-27, and 29028, as Gastelum (17-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) snapped a three-fight losing streak.
“Man it’s been three years since my last win,” Gastelum said in his post-fight interview. “And coming back it’s not easy after I fell and I fell again.”
Heinisch (14-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) was in the biggest spot of his UFC career and was competitive in the opening round. Twice Heinisch went for Kimuras in the first five minutes. Gastelum was able to get out of danger, though, and then implemented his wrestling game.
Gastelum scored four takedowns over the course of the first two rounds, including a nifty bit of work in turning an attempted Heinisch flying knee into a slam. On several other occasions, Gastelum body locked in the standup and kept Heinisch from generating any offense.
Heinisch seemed to know that he was down two rounds going into the third, and he turned up the heat. He turned a Gastelum takedown into a submission attempt on the mat and later scored a takedown in the round’s final minute. But Gastelum, who added two more takedowns in the final round for a total career high of six, was never seriously threatened as he wound down the clock and cinched his victory.
The win was the seventh career decision for the “TUF 17” champion. Heinisch has now dropped three of his past four.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 258 results:
- Kelvin Gastelum def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Ricky Simon def. Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Julian Marquez def. Maki Pitolo via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 3, 4:17
- Anthony Hernandez def. Rodolfo Vieira via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:53
- Belal Muhammad def. Dhiego Lima via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Polyana Viana def. Mallory Martin via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:18
- Chris Gutierrez def. Andre Ewell via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 30-27)
- Gabe Green def. Phil Rowe via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
