Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and young contender Kelvin Gastelum was officially re-booked for UFC Fight Night Shanghai after Kelvin’s issues with USADA had him removed from UFC 212. Gastelum had tested positive for marijuana and was pulled from the card and was very regretful of the situation as he told MMAfighting.com in an earlier interview.
“I was devastated, and I still am devastated because it was a huge opportunity that I missed. I was dumbfounded, I was in shock, I was so devastated, that’s the only word I can think of and I’m still thinking about it.”
Gastelum has been using marijuana for all of his fights and says it has helped him with easing the pain and relaxing after tough training sessions.
“Well, I always stop consuming a few weeks before the fight,” Gastelum explained. “I always have in all my fights, and I didn’t do anything different, so you know, I went into the fight thinking nothing was wrong.
“I’ve found that it helps with pain and really just pain and sleeping. We train so much, I pretty much hurt myself everyday, I’m in pain pretty much everyday, so it’s good to relax the muscles a little bit.”
“It was a big headache going back and forth with the Brazilian commission,” Gastelum said. “And on top of what was already taken from me, they wanted to fine me 20 percent on top of that, and I just think it was really unfair and I was really angry towards the commission. I want to make that clear, because I hope my Brazilian fans don’t get mad, I was mad at the commission, it’s been a headache dealing with the commission and trying to fight this battle. That’s why I would never fight in Brazil. I hope I can get past this and just learn from it, it’s been a hard few weeks. Personally, I’ve had a few problems with my family, I’ve had problems with the commission, my employer, I’ve been talking to Dana White and he’s pissed as well, so it’s caused me a lot of headaches and I’m just ready to move past it.”
“It’s a shame that I’m not allowed to fight [Silva], but you know, I already resolved the issue,” Gastelum said. “Hopefully this is something I learn from and it’s something that we grow from, but you know, I just don’t know what they base off their THC level off of. This is just a learning experience, I’m going to move on, I’m going to learn from it and — I’m not going to say who or when — but I already got something lined up and I’m just waiting to announce it.”
With everything behind him, Silva and Gastelum will finally lock horns on November 25th and squared off for the media earlier.
