For a third consecutive time, Kelvin Gastelum will attempt to execute his fight week weight cut without the services of nutritionist Mike Dolce,
Gastelum (9-0) will meet Jake Ellenberger (29-8) in the co-main event of UFC 180 on Nov. 15 in Mexico City. One day prior to that fight, his appearance at the official weigh-in is sure to draw plenty of attention.
The 23-year-old dropped to 170 pounds after winning "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series as a middleweight last year. With Dolce in his corner, Gastelum hit 170 pounds with no issues for a fight against Brian Melancon in August 2013.
After the Melancon fight, Gastelum split from Dolce citing financial reasons. His next two weight cuts did not go well. He required three attempts to make the 171-pound weight limit for a fight in March and then missed weight altogether ahead of his last bout in June in San Antonio. He forfeited 20 percent of his fight purse as a result.
Later that month, UFC president Dana White told reporters in Mexico that Gastelum had agreed to hire back Dolce for his first UFC pay-per-view co-main event.
Those plans fell through, however, due to scheduling conflicts. Dolce confirmed to ESPN.com on Monday he was contacted by Gastelum's camp, but is unavailable to travel to Mexico next week.
Gastelum said he failed to make weight last time mostly due to unforeseen circumstances and promised it would not be an issue this time.
"A lot of things went wrong that fight week," Gastelum told ESPN.com. "My weight was good. It was low. But things went south, starting with my flights getting canceled. One of my flights had to turn around and go back to my original airport. I didn't get into San Antonio until the next day at 2 a.m. A lot of little things went wrong, timing-wise. I had to check in pretty early for the UFC the day of the weigh-in and they didn't allow me to continue sweating off those pounds.
"We're going to make sure we do everything right this time. This should be the easiest weight cut I've had."