Here's what Kelvin Gastelum can prove in his fight against Vitor Belfort

Kelvin Gastelum is a special talent who has the ability to become one of the elite fighters in mixed martial arts. He’s not yet into his prime, but he’s already got an impressive collection of names on his résumé, including Tim Kennedy, Johny Hendricks, Nate Marquardt, Jake Ellenberger, Rick Story and Uriah Hall.

He’s going to get better – a lot better – and he’s already beaten the type of opponents who would make many grizzled veterans proud.

He’ll face another of those grizzled veterans on Saturday when he meets Vitor Belfort in Fortaleza, Brazil, in the main event of UFC Fight Night that will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.

It’s one of the long-time tricks matchmakers use, pitting a faded veteran against a promising newcomer with the hope that the newcomer wins and increases his visibility because of the win over the bigger name.

Oddsmakers expect that to happen, favoring the younger and now more athletic Gastelum by more than a 3-1 count.

It wasn’t all that long ago, though, that Belfort was among the most feared men in the sport. Less than two years ago, Belfort challenged Chris Weidman in Las Vegas for the middleweight title at UFC 187.

He entered that bout having won five of six and 10 of 12, with the only losses coming to Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, two men who have a strong claim to the mythical title of greatest MMA fighter who ever lived.

During that run, Belfort defeated Anthony Johnson, who is fighting for the light heavyweight belt next month at UFC 210; Luke Rockhold, the former middleweight champion; and Michael Bisping, the current middleweight champion.

He’s no longer the fighter heading into this match with Gastelum that he was in 2015 as he prepared to fight Weidman, a bout Weidman won handily.

There are reasons, though, that despite the long odds against him, Belfort isn’t entirely out of this fight.

Belfort remains a hugely popular figure in Brazil and is among the country’s biggest sports stars. He still makes significant money in endorsements there.

Huge crowds came out to see him at the UFC’s open workouts on Wednesday. Gui Cruz, the Brazil-based reporter for MMA Fighting, wrote on social media that the crowds out to see Belfort were larger than the massive throngs that cheered Ronda Rousey’s every move prior to UFC 190 in 2015.

Belfort is going to have a significant homefield advantage, and that can’t be understated, particularly with a guy who can punch. Belfort’s overall MMA winning percentage is 65.8. In Brazil, it’s 85.7.

Admittedly, most of that was accomplished when he was younger and in his prime, but have little doubt that the home crowd will spur him on, hoping for perhaps one last significant triumph.

It’s also only the second time that Gastelum has been in a main-event role, and it’s not easy to handle for many fighters. Not only is the spotlight more intense, but the demands on main-event fighters are significantly higher. There are far more interviews, far more public appearances and much greater scrutiny.

For someone like Gastelum, who in the past has struggled with making weight, it can be burdensome. If there is one clear advantage Belfort has in this fight, that’s it. He’ll be relaxed and ready to fight, but it’s not clear how Gastelum will handle it.

Gastelum put on an extraordinary performance against Tim Kennedy at UFC 206 in his last outing, dominating him in a way no one had ever previously come close to dominating the Army Ranger. Gastelum stopped him in the third round of what was a star-making performance.

It’s easy to look at that win and project down the road that Gastelum could be the middleweight champion. And it would be massive for the UFC to have a Spanish-speaking champion, because the fight game is so ingrained in Hispanic culture, and Gastelum would help open doors in Mexico and throughout Latin America were he to become the champion.

These steppingstone matches can be tricky, though. Belfort can punch, and though he may get out-fought most of the way, all it takes is one clean shot from him and the result will be flipped.

Gastelum turns 26 in October, and figures to have a lengthy run as one of the sport’s best middleweights.

The odds of better than 3-1 favoring him are about right, but it’s always wise when looking at odds that long to remember legendary boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson lost as a 42-1 favorite to Buster Douglas and as a 24-1 favorite to Evander Holyfield.

It happens.

A dominant Gastelum win would be good for the sport, as well as good for the UFC. He has star potential, and the sport thrives off of stars.

But to get there, he’ll have to get past an aging, but still dangerous star of a UFC era gone by, and that’s the brilliance of this match.

Even though Gastelum should win handily, he faces a great risk.

We’ll know a lot more about him early Sunday than we do right now.

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