Gastelum Quiets Crowd, Quickly TKOs Belfort
The crowd was silent.
Practically no noise came from any fan at the conclusion of the main event of the UFC Fight Night from Fortaleza, Brazil, where Kelvin Gastelum knocked out countryman and veteran Vitor Belfort in the very first round.
Belfort came out firing at the opening of the bout, but Gastelum landed one hard shot early on to drop the former UFC light heavyweight champion. To Belfort’s credit, however, he managed to scramble and recover.
It wasn’t long after, however, when Gastelum landed two right hands to drop Belfort and bring the fight to a halt, giving Gastelum his third win in a row. The former winner of The Ultimate Fighter now has victories over the likes of Belfort, Tim Kennedy and Johny Hendricks.
After the bout, Gastelum took to the mic to make a call-out to another Brazilian UFC legend.
"There’s a guy I really want," Gastelum said. "I’m on a legends ass whoppin’ tour. June 3 maybe, Anderson [Silva] in Rio?"
Belfort, on the other hand, has now lost three in a row, and has been finished in four of his last five. But he’s not ready to retire just yet.
"Kelvin was the better fighter tonight," Belfort said. "I have one fight on my contract, I’d like to fight in my hometown of Rio and then we’ll see from there."
UFC Fight Night 106 main card (Fox Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)
Kelvin Gastelum def. Vitor Belfort via TKO (Rd. 1, 3:52)
Mauricio Rua def. Gian Villante via KO (Rd. 3, 0:59)
Edson Barboza def. Beneil Dariush via KO (Rd. 2, 3:35)
Ray Borg def. Jussier Formiga via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bethe Correia vs. Marion Reneau goes to a majority draw (27-29, 28-28, 28-28)
Alex Oliveira def. Tim Means via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 2, 2:38)
UFC Fight Night 106 preliminary card (Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Kevin Lee def. Francisco Trinaldo via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 2, 3:12)
Sergio Moraes def. Davi Ramos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Joe Soto def. Rani Yahya via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Michel Prazeres def. Josh Burkman via submission (north-south choke) (Rd. 1, 1:42)
UFC Fight Night 106 preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
Jeremy Kennedy def. Rony Jason via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Paulo Borrachinha def. Garreth McLellan via TKO (Rd. 1, 1:17)