TUF 25 Finale winner Drakkar Klose apologizes for saying 'all English dudes are bums'

Drakkar Klose got himself noticed on Friday at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale when he upset heavily hyped lightweight prospect and bitter rival Marc Diakiese.

Klose’s performance, which ended in a split-decision win in the FS1-televised bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, wasn’t the only part of his night to turn heads. Once his victory was announced, he proceeded to scream in Diakiese’s face and taunt his British foe.

The pair exchanged many words in the lead-up to the contest, and 15 minutes of fighting apparently still wasn’t enough to settle their differences. Klose (8-0-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) mocked Diakiese (12-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and declared to the crowd that “all English dudes are bums” during his octagon interview. The 29-year-old received some flack for his comments, but he used the platform of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale post-fight news conference to clear the air.

“It was just the heat of the moment,” Klose told reporters. “If you look at my Twitter, me and him have been going back and forth since the fight was announced. After the fight it just got under my skin, and it came to a head, and I just let it go. My roommate right now is Bradley Scott, and he’s an English guy, and he’s fighting August 5. It was just the heat of the moment. I apologize to everyone for saying that.”

Although Klose said he would change his actions if given the opportunity to go back in time, he also doesn’t regret his post-fight aggression toward Diakiese. He did not take kindly to all the trash talk leading up to the bout and wanted to let his opponent know he wouldn’t stand for it.

“I think (talking is) what he does to get in (his) opponent’s head,” Klose said. “He intimidates them like that. I’m a different breed. I train with Benson Henderson every day. I get beat up by him. This guy, he’s not going to go in there and do that to me.”

Klose managed to back up his words inside the octagon, but for a brief moment it appeared the victory was at risk of being robbed from him. Despite all 15 media outlets on MMADecisions.com who scored the fight 29-28 for Klose, judge Derek Cleary viewed it 29-28 in favor of Diakiese.

Ultimately the split decision went to the rightful victor, something which Klose said he knew would happen because Diakiese is “overrated.”

“In my head I thought I won every round,” Klose said. “I don’t think it should have been a split decision. Marc, he has all this hype behind him. I knew that he wasn’t going to be as tough as everyone thought.”

Diakiese came into The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale with the reputation of an undefeated fighter to watch. Klose left with that label, though, and he said regardless of the fact he’s only two fights into his UFC career, he’s ready to take on anyone.

“I just want to fight in Detroit,” Klose said of his future. “They can put me against anyone. I’ll fight Khabib (Nurmagomedov), I’ll fight anyone. I don’t care. Just put me in there. I’ll get my hand raised.”

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.