Kelvin Gastelum believes he’s fighting for his job against Ian Heinisch at UFC 258

Kelvin Gastelum believes his UFC 258 fight against Ian Heinisch is do-or-die for his Octagon career.

In the past couple of months, the UFC has been releasing dozens of fighters as they are looking to cut nearly 60 fighters. For Gastelum, who is on a three-fight losing streak, he believes if he loses on Saturday he could be among those 60 fighters released from the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“This fight to me is probably the most important fight in my life,” Gastelum said on the UFC preview. “I’ve had a few setbacks these past few fights and so I feel like I’m in a position where I’m probably fighting for my job. This is do-or-die, this is kill or be killed and that is where I feel like I specialize in.”

Kelvin Gastelum is coming off a 78-second submission loss to Jack Hermansson in July. Before that, he lost a split decision to Darren Till and dropped a decision to Israel Adesanya for the interim middleweight titles in arguably the best fight of 2019.

Despite Gastelum being a top-10 ranked middleweight and a big name in the sport, he knows you can’t lose four in a row in the UFC. The hope for the 29-year-old is to get his hand raised and do so by stoppage by standing in his way is a very tough and durable Ian Heinisch.

“I feel like a lot of people might be counting me out, they are saying I’m on my way out but honestly I just feel like I’m starting. I’m 29-years-old, I’ve been fighting the best in the world since I was 21 and I have been forged in the fire… I have seen Ian break people with his conditioning,” Kelvin Gastelum added. “He keeps a very high pace but I’m ready for all of it, I’m ready for everything Ian brings to the table. I want to prove how many more levels above him I’m. I want to make a statement to the world that I’m here, I am here to stay and I’m better than ever and this will be a bad night for Ian.”

Who do you think will win at UFC 258, Kelvin Gastelum or Ian Heinisch?