Drakkar Klose's journey to UFC Fight Night 103 went through Mike Whitehead and John Crouch

Every fighter has a story about how they began to pursue a career in MMA. For UFC Fight Night 103’s Drakkar Klose, his started in an Arizona bowling alley.

Klose (6-0-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who fights Devin Powell (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a lightweight bout on the FS1-broadcast prelim portion of Sunday’s event prior to the remainder of the card on FS1 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, wrestled in college, but said he never envisioned himself attempting to make a living in combat sports.

That’s until one night when Klose went bowling with a group of friends. It was there that he was approached out of the blue by UFC, Strikeforce and IFL veteran Mike Whitehead, who noticed Klose’s cauliflower ears from his time wrestling and immediately recruited him to join his gym.

“I was at a bowling alley and Mike Whitehead was there, and he had just opened up a gym in Tucson,” Klose told MMAjunkie. “He just came up to me and asked if I was interested in trying out his gym. I went there, and I’ve been doing MMA ever since.”

Klose admits that at his first training session, he fell head over heels for the sport. He said wrestling had become a mundane activity during the latter years of his run, but MMA was a breath of fresh air and he was hooked immediately.

His time at Whitehead’s gym only lasted so long, though. In January 2012, Whitehead was sentenced with up to four years of prison time for attempted sexual assault. Klose said he didn’t associate with Whitehead around the time of his legal woes, and that’s because of a timely encounter with another member of the MMA world – one who could guide him where he wanted to go.

Klose first met John Crouch, head coach of The MMA Lab in Phoenix, following a jiu-jitsu tournament. Despite meeting just once, Crouch said the doors were open for Klose to come train at his gym. Once the offer was extended, Klose wasted little time before taking action.

“I was competing at one of John Crouch’s guys at a jiu-jitsu tournament, and after I beat one of his guys I was kind of nervous because I had seen him on TV and all this, but then I went up to him and started talking to him,” Klose recalls. “He said, ‘If you ever move up to Phoenix come by the gym.’ As soon as that happened, I went home and had to move to Phoenix. I packed my bags and I moved up here.”

Not long after, Klose was a full-fledged member of The MMA Lab team. He said one of the first MMA fights he ever watched was Benson Henderson’s first-round TKO of Shane Roller at WEC 38 in January 2009, and just a few years later he was training alongside “Smooth” on a daily basis.

Klose finally made his professional debut in April 2014 and has been nearly perfect since. He’s rattled off a seven-fight unbeaten streak, with the lone blemish being a split draw in a bout against Joshua Aveles under the Tachi Palace Fights banner in February.

Joining the UFC roster has happened quickly for Klose. Less than three years after his first fight, he finds himself just days away from his UFC debut. He hasn’t had much time to overthink it, though, he said, because the UFC signed him less than a month prior to the event for the showdown with Powell.

“It was a perfect Christmas gift,” Klose said. “I thought I was going to get in maybe sooner but it was just a lack of fighting and finding fights for me. I’ve only been fighting two fights a year, and my last fight, I fought in March and then I had another fight in October. In that time between I was looking for fights. I’m just glad now I won’t have to look for fights – they will just call me up and let me know, so it will be a lot easier for me.”

Not only does Klose get the chance to debut in the UFC so early in his career, but he gets to do it in front of a supportive crowd in Phoenix. Moreover, Klose competes in a card headlined by MMA legend B.J. Penn, who spent some time at The MMA Lab preparing for his fight with Yair Rodriguez.

Klose said he’s not overwhelmed by the moment. He’s taking it all in stride and said he expects everything from the standard fight week routine to his actual performance in the octagon to go smoothly

“I couldn’t script a better outcome than this,” Klose said. “I’ve been staying ready and it was a short-notice fight, then to be able to do it here in Phoenix and stay home and don’t have to worry about catching a flight anywhere and all that. Then B.J. Penn headlining the card. First UFC fight with a legend.

“This is a great matchup. I haven’t had a long camp so not many bumps and bruises. I’m a pretty good grappler myself and I think that’s going to neutralize his black belt. Once I hit him once he’s going to be a brown belt. I’ll hit him again and he’s going to be a purple belt. I’m really not worried about his jiu-jitsu too much.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 103, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.