It pains Drakkar Klose to see how many fighters are resorting to trash talk to put money in the bank.
Klose (11-1-1) — who fights Beneil Dariush (17-4-1) at UFC 248 — assured he will not compromise on his principles en route to UFC stardom. The fighter told Bloody Elbow how difficult it is to see respectable martial arts blinded by dollar signs.
“It is man. Especially when money starts being involved. Money changes people. That’s one that I will never let change me is money,” Klose shared. “Just always try and be yourself. It sucks that the UFC is coming to who is talking the most crap. It’s a business, you have to put seats in there, but it shouldn’t be about trash talking. Why can’t they promote the nice guy? It’s sucks that this sport is going that route.”
Klose said he has seen people close to him get stuck in the money trap.
“Yeah, I have... It does [frustrate me.] You can lose friends. You can have a lot of people behind you but once they start seeing you put on this persona,” Klose shared. “When I see that... Like Masvidal. I respect Masvidal a lot. Then he starts knocking people out and talking more. I kind of lost that respect for him. Stay humble. Stay who you really are. Not to just get more money. When you die, you can’t take the money with you.”
When asked what he does to try and set people in his life on the right path, Klose admitted it can be hard to change stubborn minds.
“Once I see that, I try and let them go there way,” Klose said. “I try not to deal with people like that. I know how that’s going to end.”
UFC 248 is headlined by UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and title challenger Yoel Romero. The co-main event pits strawweight champion Weili Zhang against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
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