Two top-ranked
Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights are locking horns
in January.
ESPN first broke the news on Thursday that Kelvin
Gastelum (15-6, 1 NC) will be making his way back to the cage
on Jan. 30 against Ian
Heinisch (14-3). The two top-15 middleweights will be meeting
at an event that does not yet have a main event, but earlier on
Thursday, did
gain Carlos
Condit vs. Matt
Brown.
Winner of Season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Gastelum surged
after winning that tournament to rack up several wins. Struggles in
weight forced him to move up to middleweight, and Gastelum has
dropped three consecutive bouts to Israel
Adesanya – albeit in the 2019
“Fight of the Year” winner – Darren Till
and Jack
Hermansson. His quick submission loss to Hermansson in July is
the first time the Kings MMA fighter had ever been stopped within
the first two rounds.
Heinisch was booked against Brendan
Allen at UFC on ESPN 17, but a positive COVID-19 test ejected
him from the pairing on the day of the fight. Both he and Allen
will see different foes, as Allen faces Sean
Strickland on Saturday while Heinisch will be on the shelf
until January. Heinisch last appeared in June, when he leveled
Gerald
Meerschaert in 74 seconds to snap a two-fight decision loss
skid.
In addition to the Gastelum-Heinisch and Condit-Brown matchups, the
UFC
Fight Night card on Jan. 30 that does not officially have a
location also contains a women’s flyweight battle between Roxanne
Modafferi and Viviane
Araujo.