Fighter accused of 'faking' after UFC weigh-in chaos
The co-main event of Sunday's (AEST) UFC Fight Night had to be called off after a controversial incident at the weigh-in that saw one of the fighters taken to hospital.
Drakkar Klose was set to face Jeremy Stephens in Las Vegas, but felt his hand go numb and neck tighten up after Stephens gave him a hard shove during their face-off on Saturday.
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After receiving two hours of treatment, Klose said he woke up on the morning of the fight with a headache as well as nausea.
Klose eventually went to the hospital after further treatment, forcing the fight to be called off.
“After I was pushed by Jeremy, I immediately felt my hand go numb and neck tighten up,” Klose wrote.
“UFC officials sent me to the performance institute to get worked on by the UFC PT staff for two hours.
“I spent the night eating, rehydrating, stretching and even saw the PT staff later that night
“I woke up early this morning with a migraine/headache, nausea and the only thing that made me feel better was laying the dark.
“UFC got me medicine and I rested for a couple hours before getting up and vomiting.
“It was at that point we called the UFC doctor and he made the decision to send me to the hospital.
“I’m sorry to everyone who was excited for this fight, I tried to do everything I could to stay in this fight, but these issues are out of my control.
UFC fans scrutinise Klose's withdrawal
Klose's tweet sparked a wave pf backlash on social media, with many fans accusing the fighter of "faking" the injury in an incident that divided the fight world.
From a push??? Not saying Klose is lying or anything but wtf https://t.co/zfXZYj6PYY
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) April 18, 2021
Now people are replying to Drakkar Klose's Tweet claiming he's faking everything and that Jeremy Stephens should be paid Klose's fight purse. There are some really great fans of MMA, and also some imbeciles. The latter are vocal today.
— Robert Sargent (@MMARising) April 18, 2021
Dude was depleted from a weight cut and got shoved by a pro athlete idk why ppl are acting like Klose is acting
— Hunter Fuse 🍜 (@hunterfuse_) April 18, 2021
According to ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Klose's team said a CT scan later revealed the fighter sustained a cervical sprain of the neck and a concussion from the push.
The shove in question came after the two fighters went face-to-face before Stephens pushed Klose away.
WOAH!
🤬 @LilHeathenMMA and @DrakkarKlose are FIRED UP for Saturday. #UFCVegas24 pic.twitter.com/AqUZIUdgNG— UFC (@ufc) April 16, 2021
A catchweight bout between Tracy Cortez and Justine Kish was elevated to the main card to replace the Stephens-Klose fight.
The heavyweight matchup between Chase Sherman and Andrei Arlovski was elevated as the new co-main event.
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