Kelvin Gastelum gets wish, meets Rick Story at UFC 171 in Dallas

Kelvin Gastelum‘s Christmas present came a few days late, but it still came.

The welterweight was pining for a fight against Rick Story (16-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) at UFC 171, and that’s just what Gastelum (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) got. UFC officials announced the new fight booking late Friday.

UFC 171 takes place March 15 at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and the UFC’s Fight Pass digital network.

It’s not yet known clear where the Gastelum-Story bout will be placed in the lineup. The main card is headlined by a fight for the vacant welterweight title between Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler, and a welterweight contenders bout between Carlos Condit and Tyron Woodley serves as the co-main event.

Gastelum, the 22-year-old Season 17 winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” stayed on a roll in August when he dropped from middleweight to 170 pounds and submitted Brian Melancon at UFC Fight Night 27 in Indianapolis. That win came after his split-decision upset of Uriah Hall to win “TUF 17? in April.” Gastelum was expected to return this past month, but a torn PCL kept him out of a fight with Court McGee. Now he’ll have to be ready to go in two and a half months in Texas.

Story has had an up and down run ever since he had a six-fight winning streak snapped by Charlie Brenneman on short notice in June 2011. That unanimous decision loss was followed by a decision setback against Martin Kampmann. Since then, it’s been up and down for Story, alternating wins over Brock Jardine, Quinn Mulhern and Brian Ebersole with loses to Mike Pyle and Demian Maia. But at 2-1, his 2013 was mostly a good one – with the lone loss, to Pyle, coming by split decision.

The latest UFC 171 card now includes:

• Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler – for vacant welterweight title
• Carlos Condit vs. Tyron Woodley
• Hector Lombard vs. Jake Shields
• Myles Jury vs. Diego Sanchez
• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story
• Ovince St. Preux vs. Thiago Silva
• Robert McDaniel vs. Tor Troeng
• Alex Garcia vs. Sean Spencer
• Will Campuzano vs. Darrell Montague

For the latest on UFC 171, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Kelvin Gastelum)