A lightweight scrap that could have easily served in a main card
slot if not a headliner spot of a Fight Night is relegated to the
early prelims here in Chicago. Ultimate action fighter Barboza
(24-12, 18-12 UFC) still wants to show he has something left in the
tank at the age of 39, even though he has been away for over a
year. Klose (15-3-1, 9-3 UFC) on the other hand took off the last
nine months to get his head right after a crushing knockout at the
hands (and knee) of Joel Alvarez. Before the fist and feet fly,
referee Marc Goddard checks in the two 155ers, who sportingly touch
gloves ahead of their scheduled engagement. Klose gets right behind a jab, and Barboza chips at his front leg
and strings together a combination of strikes ending with a body
shot while backing off. Klose tries for a spin, and it goes wide.
The Brazilian gets away from the wall and plants a few heavy kicks
on the front leg, with Klose already anticipatorily raising his leg
to either check or stop a calf kick. Barboza changes the kick
target to the waist, and Klose begins to chop at the front leg.
Klose punches his way into a clinch, and fans immediately shower
him with boos. Klose ignores their disdain and starts stomping on
Barboza’s foot with his heel. Barboza turns him about, and Klose
remains vigilant attacking with any open limb he can use like heel
strikes to the back of the calf. Barboza weighs heavily on his man,
and Goddard asks for more activity. Barboza digs two punches to the body and backs off, and Klose
follows him with a pair of punches. Barboza gets caught upstairs
when circling, and he is shoved to the wire. Barboza almost
immediately turns him to the wall, and for some reason, the
audience cheers Barboza clinching while booing when Klose does it.
Barboza drives knees to the body before abandoning the position,
and he rifles off a noiseless low kick that plants directly on the
calf. Barboza feints and fakes his way in to connect with a
spinning back kick to the ribs, and Klose gets up close and
personal with a few strong uppercuts. Barboza circles off and
whiffs on a wheel kick, and he evades the looping punches aimed his
way shortly thereafter. Klose eats a body shot to tag Barboza with
a pair of punches, and the round concludes in the clinch. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Klose Devin Tejada scores the round: 10-9 Klose Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Klose

Barboza strikes first to start the round, but Klose’s counters are
much heavier and drive Barboza back a bit. Klose spins with a wheel
kick that catches the Brazilian on the side of the melon, and he
gathers his thoughts and prods out with a jab. Klose kicks him to
the front leg, and his forward motion crashes into Barboza. Klose
unloads with short but destructive punches when up close and tight
to Barboza, and Barboza leans on the fence to keep himself upright.
Fans fly to his side suddenly, with “USA” chants supporting him as
he clinches and grinds. Barboza turns his hips into a low kick when
he breaks free, and a second has a lot less intensity behind it. A
third, however, connects with a resounding thud, and he gets away
with all three without getting countered. Klose drives towards him
and pushes Barboza back to the wall. Klose stomps on Barboza’s foot, which has developed some swelling
and welting from the strikes, while in the clinch. Klose punches
his way out of the tie-up he engaged with a right hand, and he
scores a low kick and starts trading punches. Barboza takes the
worse of an exchange, although he stays composed with lefts to the
body and big power upstairs. Klose marches Barboza down and clips
him with a right hand, ignoring what comes back his way to force
another clinch. Barboza turns him around and knees him so hard that
he lifts Klose off the ground. Knees are traded in this position
until the horn blares. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Klose Devin Tejada scores the round: 10-9 Klose Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Klose

Barboza takes to the center of the cage, and both fighters attack
with jabs. Barboza whiffs on a telegraphed overhand right, and it
is one-and-done as he takes a while to reset. Goddard warns Barboza
for outstretched fingers, so the Brazilian uses his foot to strike.
Klose tries to clinch, and Barboza bullies him back to the wall.
Barboza has a few knees land to the body as he changes levels, but
he does not go for a traditional entry. Klose escapes with a little
under three minutes left, and he tags Barboza with a crisp right
hand on the exit. Barboza retaliates with a low kick that puts a
funny hitch in Klose’s step. Klose’s right hand bashes into Barboza’s face, and he takes it well
enough and goes for a low kick-right hand combo. Klose steps in
with a right hand down the middle, and he checks a leg kick aimed
his direction. Klose clacks a right hand off the jaw of his foe,
and a calf kick lands flush on him. Barboza doubles up on the kick,
and Klose gives him a few back to ponder. Barboza jabs to reset,
and he digs an uppercut to the sternum twice. Klose does not love
those blows, so he engages the clinch as fans do not love what he
is doing and let him know. With 20 seconds left, Klose disengages
and throws his hands in the air as if to start something crazy.
Both men throw single wheel kicks that miss, and Klose ends the
less-than-stellar outing with a somersault kick feet off his
intended target. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Barboza (29-28 Klose) Devin Tejada scores the round: 10-9 Barboza (29-28 Klose) Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Barboza (29-28 Klose)

The referee for this lightweight contest is Dan Miragliotta. Klose
and Alvarez meet in the center of the cage. Klose lands a heavy leg
kick and then goes to the body twice. Alvarez using his length to
jab on the outside. Alvarez hurts Klose with a straight right hand.
Klose powers through with a takedown and goes straight into side
control. Alvarez gets back to guard and starts landing elbows.
Alvarez uses the cage to get back up. Klose gets hurt by a 1-2. Alvarez lands a jumping knee, and Klose is knocked immediately out
cold. Alvarez is holding up the body of Klose and landing more
punches until the referee steps in. Wow!

Despite a name of “Netto BJJ,” Silva (13-4, 6-4 UFC) has not landed
a submission in over a decade and would vastly prefer to throw
hands. He draws a willing and able dance partner in Klose (14-2-1,
8-2 UFC), a technical brawler who has very quietly and slowly
pieced together a solid 8-2 run since joining the organization in
2017. The lightweight punchers meet in the middle as referee Marc
Goddard commences the match, with no interest in tapping gloves.
Silva gets off first with a body kick, and a second one bounces
into the cup. Silva apologizes as Klose protests, and Goddard
pauses the action. After less than 30 seconds, they return to
action. Klose pushes the pace, stomping down ta the knee and
letting go of his own body kick. The two hand-fight, and Klose
blocks a head kick as Silva skirts on the outer edge of the cage.
Klose just misses a right hand, and he walks through a body kick to
deliver one on the dome. They clinch up, but Klose pushes off to
get out of the tie-up. Klose goes high with a kick again, and Silva
kicks low. Klose continues to plod forward, scoring a low kick as
he looks for an uppercut. Klose blocks a high body kick and dodges
a looping left hand, and he crowds Silva against the cage without
throwing much. Klose grabs the wrist and lands a right hand with
his free hand, and Silva protests but it is a legal thing to do. A
solid right hand from Klose finds its home on the jaw, and Silva
wears it well but it got his attention. Klose scores another long
right hand, and he strings to after it to press ahead. Klose digs a
knee to the body and rips a right hand from up close, and Silva’s
chin is holding up but it might not be able to stand up to many
more like that. Klose sneaks in another right, and Silva tries to
back him off with body kick. Klose drives two punches to the head
and several knees to the body, and he squeezes the Brazilian
against the cage before separating with an elbow on the break. The
horn sounds with them at open space. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Klose Christian Stein scores the round: 10-9 Klose Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Klose

Klose comes out of his corner, blocks a head kick and immediately
presses forward. Klose lands a body kick as he backs Silva off, and
he connects with two hooks after absorbing a body shot. Klose
stomps the feet hard when they are clinched up against the fence,
and Silva knees him hard to the belly before turning him around.
Klose spins him back and spams short knees, and the crowd grows
restless in this stalemate position. Klose considers a takedown,
and Silva lowers his hips to shut it down. Klose grinds and lands
knees, and they trade uppercuts on the inside. Klose breaks off and
backs away, and Silva connects with a solid left hand that makes
Klose take a funny step back. Klose gathers his thoughts and shoots
for a takedown, and he manages to circle around to take Silva’s
back standing. Silva turns himself about, and Klose pins him to the
wire. Silva tries for a single, but Klose shuts it down and gains a
little space. Klose lands a left hand and ends up plowing forward,
re-engaging in the clinch. As they remain tied up, Klose’s eyebrow
swells up from the big left hand landed earlier. Klose uses his
knees to work the body until the tepid round ends. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Klose Christian Stein scores the round: 10-9 Klose Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Klose

The lightweights meander towards one another to start the last
round, and Klose tries a hook kick to keep things spicy. Silva
ignores it and tries to throw back big punches, but Klose slips to
the side. Silva slaps a few low kicks on the inside and out, and he
has a right hand roll over the shoulder. Silva loads up on two
hooks, and these two find their intended target. Klose slings low
kicks to back Silva away, and Silva catches him with another right
hand. Silva just misses a left hook, and Klose jumps in and out to
trade. Klose snaps the head back with a straight right hand, and
Silva aims a right hand to the midsection in response. Both men aim
single strikes at one another, and Silva comes up short on two
looping shots. Klose flicks out a jab and lands a low kick, and
Silva bears down on him with his right hand coiled up and ready to
strike. Silva wings a left hand, and Klose rushes at him for a
possible level change. Silva jumps guard with a guillotine choke,
and Klose unexpectedly throws himself to his back, allowing Silva
to be in mount on top of him with the submission locked. Klose
slithers his way out of the danger, and they both climb back to
their feet and start slugging. Silva jacks Klose’s jaw, sending the
American face-first to the mat, and he leaps after him in search of
another guillotine choke. Klose escapes again, and he fights back
to his feet. The two trade again, and Klose pursues a takedown only
to get stuck in a 50/50 position with their elbows linked. They
rise to their feet once more, and Klose presses hard in the clinch,
and Silva turns him around as they are up close and personal. Klose
pushes off and spins with a kick to the body right before the bell,
ending an unusual fight. This very well could spell Brazil's first
loss of the night, as Brazilian fighters went 4-0 up to this
point. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Silva (29-28 Klose) Christian Stein scores the round: 10-9 Silva (29-28 Klose) Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Silva (29-28 Klose)

Action moves to the 155-pound weight class, where Solecki (13-3,
5-1 UFC) locks horns with Klose (13-2-1, 7-2 UFC). Solecki, 30, has
won eight of his last nine fights but continues to fly under the
radar. Smith provides the law and order. Solecki darts out and
immediately shots on the hips, securing a takedown. He sets up in
half guard and scores with a few punches. In his haste to advance
to the back, Solecki surrenders position. Klose moves on top and
feeds the Gym-O rep a few elbows and forearm strikes. Solecki makes a pass an armbar—a move that proves to be
ill-advised. Klose picks him up, slams him on the side of his head
and knocks him unconscious . No follow-up shots were
necessary.

Opening up the ABC- and ESPN-aired prelims is what should be a fun
lightweight matchup, even if Klose (12-2-1, 6-2 UFC) is now
battling late replacement Garcia (13-2, 2-2 UFC). Both fighters
prevailed on the same event in April, locking down second-round
finishes of Brandon Jenkins and Jesse Ronson, respectively, so the
“Matches to Make” choice appeared to be an easy one. They touch ‘em
up with referee Jacob Rosales watching on, and Klose claims the
center of the cage but is nowhere close to his opponent. Garcia
stays on the outer edge of the cage as Klose feints with jabs, and
the first strike is actually a stomping kick to the knee from
Klose. Klose kicks on the inside and outside of the leg, and Garcia
swarms him with an overhand right that bowls him over – not from it
actually hitting him hard, but from Garcia’s body tackling him
down. Klose gets back up and starts working the calf, until Garcia
closes the distance and aims punches to the body. The American
greets him with knees until they split up, and Klose fakes a body
kick and rips one on the other side before tying Garcia up. Klose
effectively uses the calf kick to decent effect, as Garcia powers
through it to club Klose in the chops with a left. Klose staggers
back and tries to give one back, but Garcia is smooth on the
outside as he kicks the knee and nearly buckles it. Klose gives
chases, and in an ensuing clinch, they throw short punches one
after the other. Klose forces a separation, with his legs appearing
to be fully back under him again, and he walks Garcia down and
measures a jab. When “Gifted” bites on it, Klose changes levels.
Klose is unable to get the first takedown try, but Garcia turns
around and gives up his back. This allows Klose to trip him out and
plant Garcia on his face for a moment. Garcia powers his way back
up, and he grabs the fence to keep himself balanced as Klose
attempts a mat return. Klose trips Garcia’s left leg out beneath
him again to plant him down, and he starts slugging away on Garcia.
“Gifted” checks his face to make sure he is not bleeding, and when
he does, Klose sucks his leg out and makes it so Garcia cannot
simply power his way back up as easily as before. Garcia rolls for
a leglock, and Klose breaks it up before anything can come from it.
When they both get to their knees, the round ends. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Klose Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Klose Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Klose

Klose races out of his corner to start the next round, and he
plants a wheel kick upside Garcia’s head before shooting for a
takedown in the first 10 seconds. Garcia stuffs it but absorbs a
few knees to the body when Klose bails on it, and Garcia powers his
way out to the center of the Octagon. The lightweights feint and
fake their way towards one another, with Klose employing his stomp
kick and swinging his shin to the body. Garcia dips back and
absorbs a glancing right hand, but he is no worse for wear. Klose
lets go with a body kick, and Garcia cannot pin him down or trap
him to land with impunity. Garcia begins to chop the legs down a
few times, and Klose switches stance after absorbing the blows.
Garcia winds up on a right hook, but Klose dips back and answers
with a short left. Garcia, using his momentum in his favor, pushes
through and knocks Klose off his feet with a double. “Gifted” gives
Klose several gifts in the form of his fists, before stepping into
half guard. The posture remains tight as Garcia does not want to
give up any space or allow a sweep or any bucking movement, but
this also results in a stalemate. The crowd is not a fan of this
nullifying half guard for Garcia, and Klose moves his head around
to dodge punches before Montalvo steps in to stand them up. Garcia
shoots the second they get stood up, and Klose staves it off and
connects with a solid left hand. As Garcia aims a right hand over
the top, Klose ducks down for a possible takedown entry, and Garcia
snatches this up to hunt for a standing guillotine choke. There is
nothing to it, and Klose shucks it off and absorbs the end of a
left hand. Garcia misses with a spinning back kick, and Klose is
suddenly energized and he charges in with his head in the air to
throw bombs. Garcia retreats, and he weathers the storm before
scooping Klose’s legs out and planting him down to the ground. A
few punches for the fighter out of Mexico land before the horn
resounds in the arena. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Garcia Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Garcia Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Garcia

Klose is the initial aggressor to start off the final round,
pushing the pace and sticking his hands out to back Garcia off. The
Michigan native jabs and makes Garcia dip down right into a head
kick, and Garcia tanks it without budging. Garcia hunts for a
takedown, and he redoubles his effort with a double that takes
Klose off his feet. Klose threatens with a guillotine choke off his
back, but with the cage behind him, there is no leverage to secure
anything, and Garcia is comfortable without concern. Klose explodes
back to his feet, and he throws hands to again force Garcia to back
from one side of the cage to another. Klose allows Garcia to come
at him so that he can set up a clinch in his favor, where he slams
knees and punches into Garcia’s body. Klose senses that Garcia is
fatiguing, and he strides forward without a care in the world,
targeting the midsection and preparing to stuff takedowns. Klose
gets Garcia’s attention with a low kick, and he has a clubbing
right slide off the shoulder into the chin. Garcia’s hands largely
drop by his waist, waiting for Klose to close the distance, so that
he can lift them and sling something heavy. He has a thudding left
connect cleanly, but Klose totally ignores it so that he can do
more work to the body. Klose ties his man up after a failed
takedown entry so that he can batter the body with punches and the
occasional knee. Klose changes this up with his own takedown try,
and Garcia pushes him off and backpedals. Garcia shoots for a
single, and Klose gets shoved back to the wall and knees the ribs a
few times to conclude the fight. Both men raise their hands after
15 minutes of combat, and some will almost certainly attempt the
joke that the Klose fight was a close fight. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Klose (29-28 Klose) Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Klose (29-28 Klose) Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Klose (29-28 Klose)

After two years away, with more than one due to a freak neck injury
sustained from a Jeremy Stephens shove at weigh-ins, Klose (11-2-1,
5-2 UFC) is back in the UFC cage again. Coming back to fight in his
standard lightweight category, he faces the high-flying,
oft-spinning Jenkins (15-8, 0-1 UFC). Someone will bounce back from
a defeat, and referee Herb Dean is here for it, wherever the fight
may take place. The fighters touch gloves, and Klose lands first
with a thumping inside leg kick. Jenkins swats back, and when Klose
closes in on him, Jenkins connects with a solid counter left hook.
Jenkins stays bouncing around on his knees, landing a leg kick and
getting his midsection kicked in return. Klose rushes forward,
bullying Jenkins up to the wall and pursuing a takedown. Jenkins
grabs the fence but still gets thrown down to the mat, where Klose
pounds on him with punches. Jenkins scrambles, fights back up to
his feet, and gets dragged right back down. Klose cannot keep him
there, as “The Human Highlight Reel” is active off his back and
powers back upright. When standing again, Klose scores a pair of
standing elbows to the temple, and Jenkins rubs the point of
impact. Jenkins crashes forward through a kick to connect with an
elbow, and Klose grabs hold of a Thai clinch and starts drilling
Jenkins with powerful uppercuts and punches. Jenkins absorbs
practically all of them without batting an eye, and although Klose
is tagging him, he does not appear hurt and just remains backed up
to the wire. Klose tries to finish the job, but Jenkins lifts up a
knee and makes Klose adjust his way in. Jenkins thumps him with a
pair of knees to the same spot, and he gains some space and kicks
high only to fall over. Klose lets him back up, as Klose appears to
be sucking wind as he might have emptied his gas tank trying to get
the job done. Jenkins potshots him with kicks from afar, as Klose’s
offense dwindles to practically nothing. Jenkins chips away with
low kicks, landing three of them until Klose springs into action.
Klose reaches out with a straight right hand, and follows with a
right hook that knocks Jenkins clean off his feet. Klose dives down
to end the fight, but Jenkins is tough, working his way back up
again and signaling to Dean that he can still continue. He turns
Klose around on the fence, and he works the body a few times until
the horn sounds. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-8 Klose Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-8 Klose Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-8 Klose

After a rough first round, Jenkins looks no worse for wear, instead
bouncing on his toes and amped up to continue fighting. Klose meets
him in the middle with a few punches and a knee. Jenkins kicks low,
and he might have hurt his shin as the kick was checked. Klose unloads with a series of punches, starting
with an uppercut that hurts Jenkins. Ripping knees and uppercuts to
knock Jenkins’ head back, Klose unloads with a vicious salvo of
punches that blast Jenkins and send him hurtling down to his knees
in big trouble. When Jenkins hits the mat, Dean steps in. Jenkins springs back up in protest, but he wobbles around like a
Mortal Kombat character before a fatality and is clearly not with
it. In victory, Klose’ wife and UFC fighter Cortney Casey brings in
their son, who is in tears. Klose assures his son that he is
alright, and when the child leaves the ring, Klose explicitly and
angrily calls out undefeated lightweight Mark O. Madsen.

The bout was canceled on Saturday evening after Klose suffered an
injury, with the news first coming from the UFC on ESPN 22
broadcast.

The bout was canceled Saturday afternoon after a member of Klose's corner tested positive
for COVID-19.

At lightweight, Kings MMA regular Dariush (17-4-1, 11-4-1 UFC) will
try to put Klose’s (11-1-1, 5-1 UFC) submission skills to the test.
Dariush’s preferred method of victory is by tapout, while Klose has
never been submitted--will something give? Keeping this contest on
the up-and-up is referee Jason Herzog. The two men touch gloves,
and Klose tries to set up his jab but it is Dariush who lands
first. A left hand is followed by a thumping body kick from
Dariush, but he eats a nasty right coming back at him. Klose loads
up with another right hand, and Dariush may be hurt but hiding it
well. Dariush closes the distance and hits a takedown, but Klose
does not stay ground for long. Klose grabs the fence to stop a
takedown, and then grabs it again while Herzog admonishes him.
Klose still grabs the cage, but in the process gives up his back.
Dariush jumps on like a backpack and secures a body triangle, while
hunting for a standing rear-naked choke. Dariush is only able to
get one arm around his neck, and Klose is holding tight on the
glove to stop the choke -- this is allowed, as long as he does not
have his fingers inside the glove. Dariush wrenches his hand away
and tugs tightly to get the choke, but Klose again wrests his arms
free from danger. The Californian abandons the choke attempt while
mounting a few punches together, and keeps his body triangle
tightly wrapped around his opponent’s waist. As Klose starts to
elbow the thigh to break the grip, Dariush nearly sinks in the
choke, but Klose is quick to fight it off. The crowd starts to turn
on the two men, as Dariush pulls tight for a choke and is content
to squeeze on the chin instead of under the neck. Klose scrambles
and flails to get his neck free, and does so while the crowd
showers them with boos. Klose starts elbowing the top of the knee
of his foe, and the round ends with Dariush as a backpack. Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Dariush Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Dariush Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Dariush

The second frame begins with Klose kicking the lead leg, possibly
sensing that Dariush’s legs are gassed. Dariush fires back with a
low kick that lands to the groin, and a brief pause sees Klose
readjust his cup. Dariush takes another gnarly leg kick, and Klose
charges forward and blasts him with a huge right hand. Klose cracks
him again and Dariush is in a bad, bad way. Klose swarms him with
punches, and while getting tagged Dariush winds up and connects
with a vicious right of his own that makes Klose do the stanky leg.
The tide may have changed quickly, as Dariush chases after him with
ferocious punches that back Klose against the fence. This is crazy!
Now Klose is rocked badly, and in this insane exchange, Dariush
evades a looping punch and fires a thunderous left hand that
stiffens Klose and separates him from his consciousness. The
mouthpiece nearly goes flying, and you can see Klose’s eyes staring
off at the lights while he topples over against the fence. Herzog
dives in to end the fight, and what an incredible turn of events!
With this wild win, Dariush becomes the first fighter to ever
finish the durable Klose.

Drakkar Klose

Fight History

Fighter Skills Radar

Key Insights

Striking Profile

Key Insights

Grappling Profile

Key Insights

Conclusions Summary