UFC welterweight James Krause invited women’s bantamweight fighter Julia Avila to train with him after she was kicked out of her gym.
It’s been a tough week for Avila, to say the least. “Raging Panda” was supposed to fight at UFC Vegas 22 last Saturday, but the fight was scratched during the weigh-ins when her opponent, Julija Stoliarenko, fainted twice on the scale. Not only did Avila’s fight fall off, but she also took to social media the next day to announce that she had been booted out of her gym, the Oklahoma Martial Arts Academy, though she didn’t explain why she had been kicked out of the gym. Regardless, Avila is now looking for a new gym to call home.
Taking to her social media this week, Avila once again said that she was kicked out of her gym and looking for a new home. Not long afterward, Krause — the UFC fighter who is also the head coach at Glory MMA & Fitness in Kansas City — replied and invited Avila to come to join him and the others at his gym. Check out how the exchange went down below.
Come through….
— James Krause (@TheJamesKrause) March 25, 2021
“I’m so angry and lost. I got kicked out of my gym and now I’m just… floating,” Avila wrote.
“Come through…” Krause said.
Krause is considered one of the best coaches in MMA right now, and Kansas City isn’t far from Oklahoma, so Avila going there does make a lot of sense. We recently saw Krause at his best when he was in the corner of UFC lightweight fighter Grant Dawson recently and gave his young pupil a pep talk between the second and third rounds, which helped spur an incredible last-second KO. Perhaps Avila could be the next fighter to hear Krause’s advice.
Do you think Julia Avila should go to Kansas City to train with James Krause?