Training with elite gives Kelvin Gastelum lift for UFC 171 bout vs. Story

(This story first appeared in Friday’s USA TODAY.)

If Kelvin Gastelum is looking for a quick rise through the ranks in the UFC’s welterweight division, he couldn’t have picked a better way to get prepared.

He also now has a pretty good idea of the type of esteem he’s already being held in, just two fights into his UFC career.

Gastelum (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) on Saturday meets Rick Story (16-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the featured fight on the preliminary card of UFC 171 (10 p.m. ET, pay-per-view) at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The Arizona-based Californian, who was the upset winner of Season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” spent his entire camp for Story training with Johny Hendricks – who takes on Robbie Lawler for the UFC’s vacant welterweight title in UFC 171's main event. The Hendricks camp requested Gastelum’s services. That comes on top of the work he did this past fall, when he was brought in by former champ Georges St-Pierre to get him ready for, of all people, Hendricks.

For most fighters, the chance to step in and be a primary training partner for the man highly favored to be the next UFC 170-pound champion would be a no-brainer. But Gastelum had to give pause before Hendricks head coach Marc Laimon convinced him.

“I told him, ‘I understand I’m going out there to help Johny, but I’ve got a fight to concentrate on, as well,’” Gastelum told USA TODAY Sports. “He was like, ‘We’ve got a full coaching staff available for you and a bunch of Rick Story footage,’ because (Hendricks) already fought Story. So I went out there.”

Gastelum believes the work he did with Hendricks, coupled with the work he did with St-Pierre, may be about to pay off. He started his UFC career as an underdog story, essentially through all four of his fights in the “Ultimate Fighter” house to reach the final. Then he wasn’t supposed to have a chance against Uriah Hall, but he upset him with a split decision. Four months later, he tapped out Brian Melancon.

A knee injury kept him from returning in December, but fully healed, and with the St-Pierre and Hendricks camps pushing him forward, he may be brimming with confidence against Story.

“I don’t think any other fighter in the world right now can say they helped Georges and Hendricks back-to-back,” Gastelum said. “For the first time, I feel all my skills being well-harnessed together now. Before, I’d go in there and go off instinct. Now I feel like I’ve grown a lot.”

Story is Gastelum’s most veteran opponent yet, but that’s just the type of fight the former undersized middleweight was looking for to keep proving himself at welterweight – and to start pushing his way into the division’s upper echelon.

“Rick Story’s a very established name in the UFC, and I think this will catapult me if I get the win,” he said. “I think this fight is tailor-made just for me. I like to challenge myself. This is just another challenge I want to take upon myself and just keep that winning streak.”

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

– John Morgan contributed to this story