Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Time to put on your detective hats.
UFC lightweight Drakkar Klose already has a name in mind for his next fight.
Klose (10-1-1) fights Christos Giagos (17-7) at UFC 241 this weekend in Anaheim. A serious prospect since making his debut in 2017, Klose is eyeing a big fight with a win over Giagos on Saturday. He already has a name in mind and he teased it when speaking to MMAmania.com on Thursday.
“Watching this and learning, closed mouths don’t get fed. If I go out there and speak it into [existence] it’s eventually going to come,” he said. “Let’s just say I want to fight on the Madison Square Garden (UFC 244) and it’s an East Coast boy and he’s in the top 15.”
A quick look at the official UFC rankings reveals four East Coast fighters among the elite: New York’s Gregor Gillespie, Philadelphia’s Paul Felder, Edson Barboza — who trains in the East Coast, and New York’s Al Iaquinta. Among those four fighters, Iaquinta is already booked to fight Dan Hooker and Barboza was born in Rio de Janeiro. That leaves Gillespie and Felder as the two most likely candidates for a Klose call-out.
Prior to the match-up with Giagos, Klose was scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush at UFC Sacramento. Dariush pulled out after breaking two toes and spraining his foot, eliciting outrage from Klose on Instagram. “Toes? Toes, really? Man, I broke my hand before a fight and still went out there. You have seven other limbs, come on now. He just knew he was going to lose,” Klose told MMAmania.com. “In my head, that’s a victory for me. I showed up with injuries and still fought. You sign that contract, show up.”
Klose is a big hip-hop fan and gave his review on Tyron Woodley’s debut rap album (video here). “I think I’d be better than Woodley. Man, he’s terrible,” Klose said candidly. “I would love to be a rapper. That would be my next dream job.”
UFC 241 is headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic. MMAmania.com will be live in attendance to give you live updates and extensive post-fight coverage.