Dana White loves Kelvin Gastelum, still shoots down drop to welterweight after UFC 188 win

Kelvin Gastelum hoped that his impressive technical knockout (TKO) victory over Nate Marquardt at UFC 188 -- which took place in the middleweight division -- would be enough to convince Dana White to let him drop back down to the welterweight division.

Wrong.

Despite the impressive win (recap), and the love the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president has for the former Ultimate Fighter (TUF) winner, a move back down to 170 is not in the cards, as White declared during the post-fight press conference that Kelvin has done nothing to prove he can hit the mark.

His words via MMA Junkie:

"I love this kid. He's such a great fighter. I love how he goes in with a kid like Marquardt and stands right in the pocket with him and exchanges. His standup looked great tonight. But I don't believe he can make 170. I honestly don't believe he can make 170. He's done nothing to prove he can make 170 pounds, and when he doesn't make 170 pounds, it's dangerous and it screws a lot of things up around here. He's going to have to get serious and get a nutritionist. He had to cut to make 185, and he came in right on the nose, so I am the furthest from confident that he is capable of making 170, no matter how much I like him, or how much he says he can do it, I don't believe him."

Bummer.

Of course, White went on to say the reason he won't allow the drop -- for now -- is because he cares for Kelvin and his health and doesn't want to see a fighter that "looks like he's about to die" tip the scales, as he's done on two separate occasions.

See them here and here.

As for Gastelum's response -- who was sitting right next to his boss when he was laying down the law -- he concurred that he though he hasn't showed lately he can hit 170 on the first attempt, actions speak louder than words and he vows to to prove his boss wrong.

But it likely won't be until he wins another fight at 185 pounds, or, at the very least, somehow shows his boss that he can indeed make the welterweight limit without "killing" himself.