After coming up short on The Ultimate Fighter 25: Redemption, James Krause has managed to redeem himself in the fights that followed.
Back in 2017 when James Krause was selected as one of the contestants for the 25th season of Ultimate Fighter, Redemption, he was recovering from a career-low run. He’d suffered back-to-back losses from 2014-15 and following that had troubles with multiple injuries. So when he was selected for the show as an active fighter, he had to deliver his very best.
Krause won his first two fights on the reality show but lost to eventual winner Jesse Taylor in the semi-finals. The win set him back but at the same time gave him a new home in the eyes of multiple fans at welterweight. At the season finale, he proceeded to win his fight against Tom Gallicchio. This was followed by a single-fight stint at a lightweight where he defeated Alex White before deciding to move up to welterweight for good.
Officially when he made his return to welterweight in 2018, he was on a four-fight winning streak. However, if you scratched the surface you could see that he had suffered a loss on the Ultimate Fighter and had fought only 4 times in a full-fledged MMA fight since 2015. He was thrown in the deep waters in his debut when he was placed against rising prospect Warlley Alves at UFC Lincoln.
Alves was on a two-fight winning streak and was a considerable favorite in the fight. However, at the event, Krause managed to prove doubters wrong by securing the win thus extending his UFC record at welterweight to 2-0. Which brings us to UFC Sao Paulo. Entering the weekend, Krause was given a tough but winnable fight when he faced Sergio Moraes. Securing a win against a Brazilian in Brazil is a bragging right. This fight had significant implications for Krause.
When Krause secured a third-round knockout win, he not only extended his record in the UFC welterweight to 3-0, he also secured the feather in his cap of defeating a Brazilian in his backyard. This performance also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. With his overall win streak at six fights, Krause has managed to turn things around for himself pretty gracefully. So while The Ultimate Fighter 25 might have been all about redemption, Krause has earned his long after the show ended.
