UFC veteran James Krause’s only assignment for UFC 247 was to corner newcomer Youssef Zalal to kick off the preliminary card on Saturday night. But after middleweight fighter Antonio Arroyo pulled out and Trevin Giles was left without an opponent, the 33-year-old welterweight decide to step in and fight a weight class higher with merely 24 hours’ notice.
UFC president Dana White recognized Krause’s efforts and awarded him an extra $50,000 for Fight of the Night honors. But he says he also advised the TUF 15 alum to never do what he did again.
“He was super upset. He felt like he could’ve won that fight,” White said of Krause during the post-fight media scrum. “I said, ‘You know what, kid, it doesn’t matter. You’re such a stud. I’ve so much respect for the fact that you came here to corner, and you took this fight a weight class up, didn’t train.’ I said, ‘But let’s not do this again.’
“I’mma write him a nice cheque,” he added. “And he won Fight of the Night. Financially, it worked out for him, but did you guys see him tonight? He was lumped up, and he was in a dogfight.
“And at the end of the second round, when he was getting up off the canvas at the end of the second round, I said, ‘I bet he wishes he was cornering right now.’”
Krause’s loss to Giles snapped a six-fight win streak, as he now holds a record of 27-8 (with 22 wins by stoppage).
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