UFC lightweight, contender, Drakkar Klose has reportedly received his show money from UFC Vegas 24 last weekend, following the cancellation of his co-main event bout against promotional veteran, Jeremy Stephens after he was pushed at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins.
Announced at the beginning of the promotion’s UFC Vegas 24 broadcast, UFC play-by-play commentator, Brendan Fitzgerald revealed that the pairing of Stephens and Klose had been shelved, with a heavyweight pairing of the former division champion, Andrei Arlovski and Chase Sherman promoted to a co-main event tilt.
Releasing a statement following the bout’s cancellation, Klose explained that immediately following his confrontation with Stephens at the weigh-ins, he felt his neck, and hand go “numb and tighten up“.
“After I was pushed by Jeremy (Stephens) at UFC Faceoffs, I immediately felt my hand go numb and neck tighten up. Sean Shelby and the UFC officials sent me to the PI (Performance Institute) to get worked on by the UFC PT (physical therapist) staff for two hours. I spent the night eating, rehydrating, stretching and even saw the PT staff later that night. I woke up early this morning (Saturday) and the only thing that made me feel better was laying in the dark. UFC got me medicine and I rested for a couple hours before getting up and vomiting. It was at the point we called the uFC doctor and he made the decision to send me to the hospital. I’m sorry to everyone who was excited for this fight, I tried to do everything I could to stay in this fight, but theres issues are out of my control.“
Per ESPN MMA reporter, Ariel Helwani this afternoon, after some “back-and-forths” between the UFC and Klose’s team, he was granted his show money for the canceled matchup.
“After some back and forth, the UFC has agreed to pay @drakkarklose (Drakkar Klose) his show money following last week’s incident where he couldn’t fight Jeremy Stephens on Saturday after he was pushed at the weigh-ins, I’m told,” Helwani wrote. “No win bonus, just show, per sources.“
Releasing a statement on his official Instagram prior to the fight’s cancellation, Stephens addressed his decision to push Klose — claiming he has “zero tolerance” for “aggressive behaviour“.
“Dramas (Drakkar) Klose got a little too close, with aggressive behaviour walking up knowing we about to fight I just have zero tolerance for that type of disrespect.