James Krause at WEC 44. Photo credit: Dave Mandel for Sherdog

When James Krause (12-3) stepped into the cage this past March at Titan Fighting Championship 17, it wasn’t just for another fight. There was something more importation at stake that night.

See Krause, who had taken a self-imposed year off from competition to focus on training and improving his game, was looking for validation that he had made the right decision.

That conformation came almost immediately in the form of a 41 second knockout of his opponent Nathan Schut (11-6).

This Friday, July 29, “The” James Krause returns to take on Clay French (18-6) in the main event of Titan Fighting Championship 19 LIVE on HDNet.

ProMMAnow.com‘s Josh Cross spoke to Krause last week about his upcoming fight, why he feels he has an advantage over French, and if having a new opponent a week before the fight has changed anything.

PRO MMA NOW: Starting off can you talk about your last fight back in March where you got a TKO win over Nathan Schut, and what that was like?

JAMES KRAUSE: It was actually really cool. I had taken a year off from fighting. I kind of wanted to have fun with it again. I felt like everything was just so serious so I took a year off just to train and get better. So going into the fight it was really important for me to go out there and do good because I had been training really hard for the fight. I wish they all ended like that. I had a good night and he had a bad night. It happens.

PRO MMA NOW: Moving on to your upcoming fight at Titan Fighting Championship 19. Can you talk about your training camp some and how that has been going?

JAMES KRAUSE: Yeah. I’m still training at K2L Grindhouse. That’s my home. I try to get a little bit of cross-training in at different places here and there. I’ve just been really focusing on everything. Nothing specific. I just had an opponent switch today so I’m fighting Clay French now in the main event. We are still going to look to stop the takedown and just keep it standing. I feel like I’m a superior striker than he is, and he’s obviously a better wrestler than me.

PRO MMA NOW: So how does having a new opponent a week before your fight change things?

JAMES KRAUSE: Well you know I’ve had a couple of different switches, had some problems finding opponents, and stuff like that before. Actually the first few guys that I was supposed to fight were solid wrestlers as well so it’s just a minor thing. Overall I’m looking at the big picture and trying to get certain things accomplished. I’ve been trying to focus less on a specific game plan and more what I want to do. I’m trying not to worry about what he is going to do and I’m just going to worry about what I’ve got to do wherever the fight goes and pull out a win.

PRO MMA NOW: You mentioned that French is a strong wrestler. Knowing what you did in your last fight do you think he will be looking to take you to the ground quickly?

JAMES KRAUSE: He’s a short guy so I think after he gets jabbed a couple of times, while we might come out and stand for a little bit, I think ultimately he is looking for the takedown. Some of my wins are from submission and I definitely feel comfortable there.  If I hit my back I’m by no means a fish out of water. I can hold my own with him for sure on the ground, but I am looking to keep the fight standing. I’m going to play it by ear, but like I said, I’m more worried about what I’m going to do instead of what he is going to do.

PRO MMA NOW: Is there any specific way you can see this fight ending?

JAMES KRAUSE: You know I could see a few different ways that this fight could end. I could see it ending by a submission like a guillotine or a triangle. I have a lot of wins by triangle. I could also see a knockout or a TKO again. I think I’m more dangerous in more places than he is. I feel like he is only dangerous in one place and that is wrestling. That’s just my opinion obviously, but I think he needs to worry about my overall game rather than his wrestling.

PRO MMA NOW: Now you’ve fought for other promotions in the past like the WEC and Bellator. As a fighter, how would you say Titan Fighting compares to those other organizations?

JAMES KRAUSE: Titan is awesome. They do a great job. It’s local for me so they’re not flying me in for the fight or anything like that, but from my experience they just do an excellent job taking care of the fighters and making people feel comfortable. I think they do a great job matchmaking and putting on entertaining fights. You might not see the biggest names on there but if you go through the last few Titan fight cards there have been some absolute killer fights. So they do a good job of putting together fights and I think they also do a really good job of taking care of the fighter before the fight. I’ve seen the hotels that the fighters stay in and they just do a really good job and they make it about us the fighters. It’s real nice when you don’t have to worry about the promotion and stuff like that. They worry about the fighters and taking care of them first. That’s my main thing with them.

PRO MMA NOW: For someone who might not be familiar with your previous fights, what would you say to them about why they should make sure to tune in Friday night?

JAMES KRAUSE: You know I come out to finish and if you watch my last fight, right before I hit that leg kick, [Michael] Schiavello was talking about how I’d rather lose an exciting fight than win a boring one. I fight to finish people, and I like having exciting fights. I want people to watch me. I don’t want to be that guy that people talk about being good but not being exacting to watch. I hate that. That drives me nuts man. I want people to come out and cheer for me . . . or cheer for the other guy. I don’t give a damn. Have fun and have an exciting fight. That’s what I think this sport has gotten away from recently and I really want to put an emphasis on finishing fights. Even if you can’t finish fights at least make it exciting and make the fans want to come out and watch you next time.

PRO MMA NOW: Where do you want to see your career go in the future?

JAMES KRAUSE: You know just like everybody else I would like to get back to a Zuffa owned company. That would be really nice. I think that’s what the majority of fighters are working for. I’d like to get back to that point at some point in time. I’m not in a rush by any means. Basically I’m just going fight by fight. I think I kind of got caught up in that before and I just quit worrying about that. That is why I took a year off to kind of get back to worrying about taking it one fight at a time, getting the win, and going from there.

PRO MMA NOW: What would you say would be the best way for fans to keep track of what you’ve got coming up in the future?

JAMES KRAUSE: Either my Twitter (@TheJamesKrause) or my Facebook.

PRO MMA NOW: Are there any sponsors you would like to plug or people you would like to thank?

JAMES KRAUSE: I’d like to thank my main sponsor Posterboy Clothing. I’d also like to thank K2L Grindhouse, which is my gym.

PRO MMA NOW: Anything else?

JAMES KRAUSE: Just make sure to tune into HDNet and check out the fights. Make sure to check me out, check my teammates out, and check the card out. It will be an awesome night of fights, so make sure to tune in.

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