Klose laughs, far enough removed from the fight to be able to do that, but still close enough to have implemented the lessons learned into this camp. It was something he didn’t even realize at the time, but those close to him, like mom and his girlfriend, Cortney Casey, did.
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“I think I put a lot of pressure on myself when I fought Beneil,” he said of the UFC 248 bout. “Cortney’s like, ‘Oh, you’re stressed out.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not stressed,’ but looking back, I was really stressed out a lot. I had my family putting pressure on me, I was putting pressure on myself, and I get in that fight and I see Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), (Laughs) I see Khabib (Nurmagomedov), Michael Irvin, and they’re all across from me, and I thought I gotta put a show on for these guys instead of going out there and just doing what I normally do – just trying to get the win.”
Klose nearly got the win against the lightweight contender, rocking him early in the second round. The Michigan native appeared to be one more good shot away from victory, and he knew it.
“I was like, ‘Man, I’m about to get the bonus; I’ve never got the bonus before,’” he laughs. “It was an emotional rollercoaster. As soon as I hit him, I’m like, ‘Oh man, get it.’”
He almost did, but just as soon as he had his opponent in trouble, Dariush roared back, returning the favor before ending the bout a minute into the second stanza.
