James Krause appeared on the fifteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. He lost to Justin Lawrence during the preliminary round. While the loss left a bitter taste in his mouth, Krause has used the defeat as motivation.
“Looking back on it, that loss was — the best thing that ever possibly happened to me was losing on The Ultimate Fighter. It lit a fire underneath me,” said Krause about his first appearance on the reality series.
“After James lost the fight to get into the house on season 15, he went on a very impressive winning streak in other promotions, and we felt it was time to give him a shot in the UFC,” said UFC president Dana White. “He’s been in the UFC every since.”
This season of TUF is title Redemption because the cast is made up of sixteen fighters that appeared on the show. Fifteen of them are not under UFC contract. Krause is.
“James has had a solid career so far, and is riding back-to-back wins (in the UFC),” stated White. “James Krause is actually the only fighter this season who is still under contract with the UFC, so I would imagine that he has to be the favorite to win the $250,000.”
Krause was supposed to fight in the first fight of the season, but his original opponent, Hector Urbina, failed to make weight and was removed from the show. Alternate Johnny Nunes, replaced Urbina and the fight was moved back three weeks.
Nunes took the fight to Krause. He came out aggressive and launching right hands. He secured an early takedown but couldn’t keep Krause grounded. Nunes landed combinations and was winning the opening round until Krause changed everything with a well placed knee. As Nunes changed levels for a takedown, Krause delivered a knee that face-planted his opponent. He took Nunes’ back and locked on a rear-naked choke the forced the tap out.
“Anytime you can pull off a win in this tournament, I think it’s a good thing,” said Krause following the fight.
The win kept Team Dillashaw unbeaten with four straight wins over Team Garbrandt.