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Give a Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight, Dana White’s Contender Series, or FAC show a watch and you’ll realize the crop of fighters he has in the UFC is nothing compared to the army still coming down the pipeline.

A sign of an accomplished gym is landing a fighter in the UFC; a sign of an outstanding gym is regular appearances in the top promotion on the planet, and a sign of elite status as a coach is being able to corner more than one fighter on a card.

What level of coaching are you at if multiple fighters on UFC cards is the norm and you’ve once cornered four fighters in one night?

Still very much in fighting shape, 35-year-old James Krause has done exactly that, and it’s unlikely that’s the last time he’ll do it. To the casual fan, it would appear that moving away from fighting to focus more on coaching at this stage in his career is both impressive and confusing.

With the high volume of fighters in the UFC and in the pipeline, it’s almost impossible to imagine being able to step away for a full fight camp to focus on himself. And considering that he’s 7-1 in his last eight fights, he very much “still has it.” But is Krause coaching at the expense of his career?

Not at all.

“At this point in my career it’s definitely coaching and the coaching aspect I take way more pride in and enjoy more,” Krause said. “I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t difficult at times because there’s so many people that I have to coach, so many different talents, and people come and go and it’s a selfless job. There’s not much return on coaching fighters, so it can be very tough, but I enjoy it.”

His attitude clearly reflects his leadership. There’s got to be a reason so many UFC caliber fighters continue to pop up in the Kansas City area. With all due respect to the City of Fountains, until Krause it wasn’t exactly the most thriving MMA community.

There are major gyms across the globe that operate in a more corporate way to accommodate all the elite talent coming in. While his gym continues to rapidly grow, it’s still James Krause behind the fighters representing Glory MMA. The level of one-on-one career guidance from fighter to fighter and the environment are two things Krause has taken pride in and made it the thriving gym it is today.

“Listen, I don’t act like we’re perfect because we’re not. People leave and people do transfer in,” Krause explained. “It’s part of the game but I really believe that we have a productive culture, and let’s face it, nobody moves to Kansas City because of the weather. We’re a very blue-collar team with some new school techniques and ideas. We’re all driving to one direction; we’re all on the same page.”

So what’s next for Krause and Glory MMA? There’s a lot to be said about his talent output in the UFC, and FIGHT PASS subscribers see even more Glory MMA flags in almost every promotion, so it doesn’t appear to be coming to an end anytime soon.

That might mean more stress for The James Krause, but that’s exactly the way he wants it.

“It’s never ending,” Krause said. “Obviously we have the graduating class, those are the guys that get signed and they’re ready for the UFC, but we also have the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes. Those guys are coming up and it’s never ending, man. We produce talent out of the gym and we look to build guys from the ground up. I don’t have a lot of transfers; most of my guys are built from the ground up and I think that’s a testament to the gym. It’s culture and it’s hard work.”

Catch James Krause’s FAC 12 for the filming of Dana White: Lookin’ For a Fight: Kansas City, featuring the Nelk Boys, by signing up TODAY for UFC FIGHT PASS!

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