Drakkar Klose had a grueling fight against Christos Giagos at UFC 241, and now he has another grueling fight in mind against Gregor Gillespie.
Anaheim, CA – Drakkar Klose notched his third straight win at UFC 241, taking over the latter half of his fight against Christos Giagos. Giagos got off to a very strong start, but part of that was Klose being out of it in the beginning.
“I’m keeping it way too close. But I felt good. The layoff played a role. When I got in there, I was just standing there like, ‘Man, this doesn’t even feel like a fight.’ It started clicking in the second. I was like, ‘I have to bite down and I have to get this victory.’ It just felt weird, like it wasn’t my night. I just had to dig deep down into my soul and try to get that victory.”
For someone not fighting ranked fighters, Klose has had a tough strength of schedule. Now that he’s gone 5-1 in the UFC, he’s ready to fight someone with a number next to their name.
“It felt like all the guys they gave me, I was kind of a feeder for them. They couldn’t beat me and I wound up victorious. Feels like I should fight somebody in that top 15. I really want to test my skills. The bigger the opponent, the better I’ll perform.”
And he has someone specific in mind: one of the rising stars of the lightweight division, Gregor Gillespie.
“I know a lot of people don’t call out [Gregor] Gillespie. Hey, I called him out. Let’s go. Madison Square [Garden]. I don’t know if he’ll take it, but let’s do it. I hear all these stories about how no one wants to fight him. I’ll fight him.”
Klose recently changed gyms, switching from the very successful MMA Lab to Fight Ready. It was a necessary move in his mind.
“I felt good. I switched a lot of things up in my life. I was with The [MMA] Lab for so long so I got content with doing the same motions over and over. I had to make that move to better my career. I think it worked out for me.”
Drakkar Klose was supposed to fight Beneil Dariush last month, but the bout fell through on fight night, which was a tough pill to swallow for Klose.
“I shed a couple of tears. That Sacramento card, I flew out there, then Tuesday they scratched it. It was an emotional rollercoaster for me. They offered me a couple of opponents. I agreed to it. Then they didn’t get cleared. So I was happy, then it didn’t happen. My head was all messed up. But now, it’s a blessing that that fight didn’t happen because now, all you guys are here and it’s a way bigger card.”
Check out the rest of Drakkar Klose’s UFC 241 post-fight scrum above!
