Midnight Mania! ‘UFC Already Knows Who They Want To Be Champion’

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC walks the line between sport and entertainment. Each decision is made with that mixture in mind, a careful balance of maximizing potential income through matchmaking and promotion, while also giving lesser stars a chance to develop their fame and capture gold.

Some would argue UFC is leaning more and more into the direction of valuing star power over fighting ability. Case in point, athletes fighting for a title while coming off a loss has become more common, as are interim belts. For fighters passed over on opportunities in favor of peers with a larger Instagram following, this can be plenty frustrating.

Drakkar Klose fights this Saturday night at UFC Vegas 19 opposite Luis Pena, but he’s definitely one of the fighters unhappy with UFC’s process. He’s been unable to get a fight booked for nearly a year since losing a back-and-forth battle with Beneil Dariush, and his priorities have shifted away from the belt.

“Dude, I’m just trying to get money now. I’m not trying to chase that belt, the UFC already knows who they want to be champion,” Klose told BJPenn.com. “It’s the same couple of people always fighting. You look at the top-10, Al Iaquinta is still in there, he hasn’t fought in two years. To me, it is ridiculous, I’m just trying to get these paycheques.

“I’m to the point where it doesn’t matter. I can win 10 fights in a row and still not fight for the title just like Charles Oliveira,” Klose explained. “He is out there doing his thing, at least give him a title shot. It is a business and if you are not out there talking shit or showing out for the cameras, they are not going to push you.”

Though Klose is not at the end of his fight contract, he is already considering testing free agency at its conclusion.

“I have three more fights I believe. I’ve never won a belt in any other organization. I’ve beat guys that won belts. I want to get a belt and I don’t care where it is at. If that means me fighting out my contract and going somewhere else to do it, so be it. I love fighting in the UFC, but it is hard to get a belt here, especially at 155,” Klose concluded.

Insomnia

Learn a founding technique of Muay Thai!

Derrick Lewis never needs to make another funny comment to be remembered as the funny comment guy (who also knocks people senseless). Also, this “Black Beast” just stands up compilation rules.

An actually good women’s Flyweight fight?!?

UFC finalizing a women’s flyweight bout between No. 2 Katlyn Chookagian (@blondefighter) and No. 7 Viviane Araujo (@ViviAraujoMMA), per UFC officials. Big one for Araujo, who is 4-1 in the promotion and shown a lot of potential.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 17, 2021