UFC lightweight Drakkar Klose has been given his show money, but not his win bonus, after his recent fight with Jeremy Stephens was canceled.
Last Friday at the UFC Vegas 24 weigh-ins, Klose was shoved by Stephens. The shove came out of nowhere and startled Klose, who was already dehydrated from cutting weight. The next day, the fight was canceled just hours before the fighters were supposed to step into the cage. Klose later released a statement saying that he was injured from the shove and that he was dealing with whiplash-like symptoms. UFC president Dana White responded by saying that UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby was the one to blame since he should have prevented the shove from ever occurring between Klose and Stephens.
Either way, the fight was canceled and Stephens and Klose were left without their paychecks. For Stephens, it was his fault that the fight was canceled so there isn’t much sympathy from the fans when it comes to him not getting paid. For Klose, though, losing his payday because someone else couldn’t contain their temper at the weigh-ins didn’t seem right. Fortunately, it looks like the UFC has taken at least some steps to fix the issue, as the promotion has given Klose his show money, per ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani.
After some back and forth, the UFC has agreed to pay @drakkarklose 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. No win bonus, just show, per sources.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 21, 2021
After some back and forth, the UFC has agreed to pay @drakkarklose 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. No win bonus, just show, per sources.
Since Klose weighed in successfully, he was contractually due to his show money under his contract. However, the hope was that Klose would also get his win money. He will not right now, but whenever he is ready to return to the cage and fight again, he’ll have his chance to get that win bonus. It’s not yet known if the UFC will re-book the Stephens fight.
Do you think the UFC should have given Drakkar Klose his win bonus as well?