UFC star could be terminated after massive blunder before fight night

Noche UFC 3 spells disaster for UFC veteran Kelvin Gastelum, who missed weight for the fifth time in his career.

The Californian fighter has incurred a 35-percent fine on his purse, after weighing 5 lbs over the 185 lbs middleweight limit for his fight with Dustin Stoltzfus on the night's main card. The fight proceeds at a 191 lbs catchweight limit, with Stoltzfus taking Gastelum's 35-percent cut.

The promotion hasn't looked favorably on weight misses recently, releasing Bryan Battle after missing the middleweight limit earlier this month. Gastelum could find himself in the same spot should he lose or put on a bad performance come Saturday night.

Kelvin Gastelum misses weight again ahead of Noche UFC 3

It's a concerning development for Gastelum, who became notorious for his weight struggles at welterweight earlier in his career. His middleweight move was deliberately made to alleviate the struggles of making weight, but clearly, he's at a crossroads.

Gastelum has now missed weight five times in his UFC career:

Came in above the welterweight limit against Nico Musoke in 2014
Forced a catchweight of 180 lbs against Tyron Woodley in 2015
Missed weight and cancelled a fight against Cowboy Cerrone in 2016
Forced his fight to be moved up to middleweight against D-Rod in 2024
Forced a catchweight of 191 lbs against Stoltzfus in 2025

Kelvin Gastelum misses the middleweight limit by 5lbs at Noche UFC weighing in at 191lbs 😬 pic.twitter.com/XZDCg17UgV
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) September 12, 2025

It's do-or-die for Gastelum, who hasn't finished an opponent since 2017.

Who's fighting this weekend?

Noche UFC 3 will continue as planned, with Gastelum taking a 35-percent pay cut, going straight into Stoltzfus' pockets. (subject to change)

Main event: #2 Diego Lopes vs. #10 Jean Silva
#9 Rob Font vs. David Martinez
Rafa Garcia vs. Jared Gordon
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Dustin Stoltzfus
Santiago Luna vs. Quang Le
Alexander Hernandez vs. Diego Ferreira
Jose Medina vs. Dusko Todorovic
Claudio Puelles vs. Joaquim Silva
#2 Tatiana Suarez vs. #4 Amanda Lemos
Jesus Aguilar vs. Luis Gurule
Zach Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas
Alessandro Costa vs. Alden Coria
Montserrat Rendon vs. Alice Pereira
Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Daniil Donchenko

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