Coach James Krause announces MMA retirement: “You’re never going to see me fight again”

UFC welterweight James Krause is officially done as an active competitor.

The 36-year-old has been out of the cage since a win over Claudio Silva in October 2020. The win was his seventh, in his last eight contests. The sole defeat was a controversial decision loss to Trevin Giles at UFC 247, where Krause stepped up on one-day notice.

Over the latter half of his career, the Kansas City native has become more of a coach than a fighter. As the leader of Glory: MMA and Fitness in Missouri, he’s led names such as Brandon Moreno and Megan Anderson to UFC title fights.

Now, on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, James Krause has announced his retirement. The UFC welterweight noted that his enjoyment of coaching was his reason to retire. That, combined with a back injury made him hang up the gloves.

James Krause referenced being in the corner of Brandon Moreno’s title-winning performance at UFC 277 as a motivator as well. The flyweight captured interim gold with a win over Kai Kara-France last Saturday.

Brandon Moreno at UFC 263

“This last week for me, I had a herniated disk — I have a herniated disk in my neck — and it was giving me real problems going into that [UFC 277] fight week. And I was very close to just officially saying it. It’s hard for me to [say]. This is the problem with most fighters is, it’s hard to let that go. It’s really hard to let that go. But I could tell you with almost 100 percent confidence that you guys will probably never see me fight again. And I’m good with that. I feel OK with that.” (h/t MMAFighting)

James Krause continued, “…I am done with this sport. I’m at peace with it. I have no desire to fight again. I really don’t. My desires and my fulfillment have now shifted toward coaching. Moments like Brandon Moreno and the rest of my team, I get fulfillment out of those. So you can call this my official retirement or whatever, but I do not plan on ever fighting in the UFC ever again.”

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