James Krause is fired up.
Not that the Missouri-based scrapper ever needs any added motivation going into a fight, but there is something stinging him leading into his next tilt at UFC 184. A quick look at the hard-charging lightweight’s career reveals he’s traveled a hard road to make it to the biggest stage in MMA, and he’s attempted to make the most out of each of the four showings he’s had inside the Octagon.
The 28-year-old Grindhouse MMA representative has suffered setbacks in two of his four outings, yet the end results of those fights haven’t been an easy measure to gauge the skills he brings to the cage. His bout against Bobby Green was a foul-laden affair that ended in controversial fashion, while his most recent loss came in an uninspired showing against Jorge Masvidal, who is currently a top-ranked competitor at 155 pounds and on one of the hottest streaks in the talent-rich lightweight fold.
That said, his two wins under the UFC banner were both high-paced, action-packed bouts. His debut showing against Sam Stout at UFC 161 back in June of 2013 resulted in Krause not only claiming the victory, but leaving Winnipeg with two Performance of the Night bonuses.
His other win came against former WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner in a bout that was toe-to-toe ruckus until the Arizona native suffered an ankle injury that prevented him from entering the second round of the fight.
When his total body of work is examined it’s clear that Krause not only possesses a fan-friendly and exciting style, but he’s fought well above his ranking—or lack thereof—in a division crawling with game fighters.
And when he discovered his upcoming tilt against Valmir Lazaro was slated to appear on the Fight Pass portion of Saturday’s card in Los Angeles, Krause was admittedly a bit miffed and fired up to prove he deserves a higher placement on the billing.
“It absolutely motivates me,” Krause told Bleacher Report. “Two things come to mind when I start talking about this subject. When you look at who I’ve fought and I think I’m an exciting fighter and I deserve to be on the Fox Sports 1 portion of the card. You also look at who else is on that card. For God sakes there are far less exciting fights on the card than what our fight is from a stylistic standpoint.
“I know [Lazaro] is relatively new to the game, but if you look at our respective styles it makes sense to put us on the televised portion of the card—at least kick off the Fox Sports 1 part of the card. We are two guys who both come out to finish, and we are good at it. That’s an exciting matchup and there are some other fights on the card that are up higher on the card and it just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Not only did the bump down the card leave him wondering how much respect he’s earned with the UFC brass, but fighting on the non-televised portion of the event was a direct shot to his wallet. Make no mistake about it, Krause is always ready to handle business inside the Octagon. But the frustrations that have accompanied his upcoming bout have presented other obstacles outside of the fight.
“I lost probably $3,000 to $4,000 in sponsorship money for this fight,” Krause explained. “I lost that money because I’m on Fight Pass instead of Fox Sports 1. Yeah…it definitely irritates me.
“I’m kind of used to it now, but I don’t really understand [the UFC’s] angle,” he added in regard to his roller-coaster experience with the top promotion in the sport. “I don’t know if they love me or hate me. I feel like I’m a pretty marketable dude, and I promote my fights well. I’ve never turned down an interview in my life. I do all the interviews and PR that I can, so I really don’t know. But at the end of the day I have to show up, and I have to fight these guys. It is what it is I guess.”
All outside-of-the-cage business aside, Krause still has to show up and perform on fight night if he wants any ground to stand on. He is a fighter who is always looking to further his craft and one who is determined to show the best version of his competitive self when the cage door closes.
And while he usually stays with his brothers and sisters in arms at Grindhouse MMA in Missouri, Krause and teammate Tim Elliott took a different route in preparation for their respective fights.
With Elliott having to fight at elevation in Denver, both fighters went out to Colorado early in order to get settled in. Where Elliott was making the final preparations for his bout with Zach Makovsky at Fight Night 60, Krause used the experience to get some new looks with Marc Montoya and his squad at Factory X in Denver.
“They are great guys and they helped me a ton,” Krause said. “They helped me fine-tune some things, and it was a great experience training with those guys.
“I was already going to be out there in Denver for Tim’s fight, so it just made sense for me to go out there a little bit early because Tim was out there anyway. I need to get new looks and new angles and stuff like that. It made a lot more sense for me to go out this time than it normally would.”
With his bout against Lazaro rapidly approaching, the time will soon come for Krause to step into the Octagon once again and put everything he has on the line. He’s still in the process of establishing his name on the biggest stage in MMA, but he’s already long since established the fact that he’s as game as they come when things go live.
He’ll be looking to stamp that notion at Lazaro’s expense at UFC 184 and is determined to prove he belongs where fight fans can see what he has to offer.
“I’m always trying to make a statement, man,” Krause said. “That’s the entire reason I fight and the reason I got into this sport in the first place. I want people to enjoy my fights and talk about me every single time I go out there. That’s why I fight. I definitely don’t do it for the money that’s for sure. I love competing, and I love entertaining the fans. That’s what is important to me.
“I love the matchup. If you just look at it on paper with who he’s fought and who I’ve fought, I think the tale of the tape tells the story here. But we have to fight to figure it all out. I think I’ve faced way better competition than he has. If you look at my UFC fights against his fights in the UFC, it is night and day. I think he’s going to be dangerous.
“He always comes ready to fight, and fighters from his neck of the woods always seem to come in a little more fired up than usual,” he added. “I definitely have to bring my A-game, and if I do that I don’t feel like there is any way I can lose to this guy.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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