Kelvin Gastelum settles with New York commission, cleared to fight at UFC 206

As UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum predicted, his suspension with the New York State Athletic Commission was a mere speed bump on the way to fighting Tim Kennedy at UFC 206.

The NYSAC on Tuesday cut a deal with Gastelum to drop a six-month term in exchange for paying a $2,000 fine after he missed the weigh-ins for UFC 205.

The news was first reported by ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto and confirmed to MMAjunkie by NYSAC spokesperson Laz Benitez.

“The disciplinary action against Kelvin Gastelum has been settled prior to hearing for the payment of a $2,000 fine,” Benitez wrote. “The matter is now closed.”

Gastelum (12-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is now cleared to fight Kennedy (18-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) next month at UFC 206, which takes place Dec. 10 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

On Monday, the Ontario Athletic Commission told MMAjunkie that a bout proposal had not been submitted for Gastelum vs. Kennedy, and the commission said it would honor any suspension from a member commission of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC). But Gastelum’s name will now be taken off an ABC database, which means the UFC simply needs to submit a proposal.

The fight gives Gastelum the chance to rebound from a series of unfortunate turns in his career. After a unanimous decision over ex-champ Johny Hendricks at UFC 200, he was booked to fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 205, which took place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. On the week of the fight, he announced he would not make weight, and skipped the weigh-ins. UFC President Dana White later banished him from competing at welterweight after the miss, his fourth in the division.

Gastelum volunteered to fight Kennedy, who’s own luck hasn’t been good since he decided to come out of semi-retirement to fight ex-champ Rashad Evans at UFC 205. When Evans wasn’t cleared by the NYSAC, the fight was scratched, so the promotion re-booked the matchup for UFC 206. But when the Ontario commission followed the NYSAC’s decision not to license Evans, it was back to the drawing board until Gastelum showed up.

Now, as UFC commentator Mike Goldberg says, we’ve got a fight. Or as the promotion announced earlier, we’ve got a fight pending commission approval.

For more on UFC 206, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.