Drakkar Klose is set to end another year-long layoff.
Klose last fought last August when he beat Edson Barboza by decision. However, in the second round, he tore his shoulder which resulted in another layoff.
“I had torn my shoulder against Barboza; it happened in the second round,” Klose said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I felt it tear. The doctor who did it works for the Dodgers; he’s the Dodgers’ surgeon, and he told me around a 9-12-month recovery. … I was training around six months; I was in the gym giving some guys some rounds, but I wasn’t feeling 100% until after Tommy (McMillen’s) last fight.”
Once Klose was ready to return, he got offered Tommy Gantt at Noche UFC. Although this was the card he wanted, he admits he wasn’t familiar with him.
“I had no idea anything about him. One of my coaches knows him through wrestling; another coach coached against him in wrestling. He’s familiar with him, but MMA stuff, I don’t know anything about him,” Klose said. “The videos we’ve seen on him, he’s fighting guys that are Uber drivers, dudes with losing records, so it’s hard to get anything from those, as those guys are in there to get a paycheck.”
Drakkar Klose expects stoppage win at Noche UFC
Although Klose wasn’t too familiar with Gantt, after looking him up, he’s extremely confident.
Drakkar Klose knows Tommy Gantt will want to wrestle him, so he plans to make it dirty, which will lead to a finish win.
“He’s 33, he has to fight right now,” Klose said. “They don’t have time to build him, he has to prove himself and might as well go against a veteran like me. … It’s weird, I talked to Hunter and I said I’m trying to fight on the Phoenix card, and they gave me this matchup. I thought I’d get a bigger name. At the end of the day, I just have to beat this dude up and collect my paycheck. …
“He doesn’t like getting hit. When he gets put in a bad position, all he will do is shoot. … This is going to be a test for him. Hopefully he wants to throw hands, but I’ve been wrestling this entire camp. I feel like I am going to finish him in the third round, go in there, stuff his shots, make it dirty. He trains with Daniel Cormier, so I know he’s working on his wrestling and clinch, but I’m good in the clinch game,” Klose concluded.
If Klose gets his hand raised, he hopes he can get a rematch with Beneil Dariush, but doubts Dariush would accept it.
“I’m going to be in the same position. If I’m a gatekeeper, I’m cool with it because I’ll keep collecting checks and adding them up. … I want to fight Beneil again. I know he has one more left, and I want that fight back,” Klose concluded.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
