Drakkar Klose doesn’t think he will ever be the same after the shove from Jeremy Stephens at the face-off after weigh-ins.
Klose and Stephens were set to fight at UFC Vegas 24 on April 17, but Stephens shoved Klose at weigh-ins, and right away he knew something was wrong. He was still dehydrated and didn’t expect the shove which is why he thinks the injury was so bad.
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“That’s the last thing I want on weigh-in day is to be touched. All week he was being buddy, buddy, and then come weigh-in day his whole attitude changed,” Klose said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I wish he would have kept the same energy all week because then I wouldn’t have gone in there with my guard down.”
Once the shove happened, Klose said his arm immediately went numb but thought nothing of it. Yet, as the day went on his head and beck began to hurt and when he woke up the following morning he couldn’t even open his eyes which forced him out of the fight.
Although it has been a year since the shove, Drakkar Klose says he’s still dealing with the injuries he sustained from the shove and it’s something he will have to deal with for the rest of his life.
Not only is he not 100 percent, but Klose admits he thought his career was over. He was having major pain and neck surgery was recommended but Klose decided to hold off on that until his career is over.
“I mean, the damage was done, I’m still not 100 percent from that. It’s something I will probably need surgery on eventually,” Klose said. “I told myself if I have to get surgery, I’m just going to call it quits. Just trying to manage it and do the therapy and all that…
“I did think that was going to be the end of me. I was having really bad headaches, dealing with my neck issue, it is something serious. When I saw my doctor he talked about fusing my neck and I didn’t want to hear that,” Klose later added. “I want to go out on my terms, I don’t want to go out with the doctor telling me I can’t do this… It was a herniated disc, C6, C7, as soon as it happened my whole arm went numb, and later that night, things weren’t right and I woke up couldn’t open my eyes, a real bad headache. There is a lot of other stuff that I will probably say when I’m done fighting but they pay me so I will keep my mouth shut.”
After the injury, the UFC paid Klose his show money and he was on his way home. Yet, for 12 months he has been rehabbing and trying to get over the neck pain and headaches. He now feels ready to fight, but he thinks the UFC could’ve handled it better as he says Jeremy Stephens really f****d him up.
“They ended up giving me my show money but they never said anything to me. To me, it’s kind of ridiculous, he really f****d me up,” Klose said. “I remember driving home from that fight and I was crying, I don’t know why I was crying but my head was so messed up. It’s a business for them, they don’t care it’s all numbers for them, when I’m gone someone else will be in my spot.”
Given Klose was not able to fight for a year, and he hasn’t fought since March 2020 due to opponents falling out, he says he would’ve been homeless had it not been for his partner, Cortney Casey fighting. She has been the only person making money for their family and Klose says he will never be able to repay Casey for keeping them afloat.
“Man, I’m blessed to have Cortney (Casey), she’s been fighting because if I didn’t have Cortney in the picture I’d probably be living on the street or working at McDonald’s or something like that,” Klose concluded.
What do you make of Drakkar Klose still dealing with injuries from the Jeremy Stephens shove?