James Krause praises former foe Jorge Masvidal: “He is the toughest guy I ever fought”

James Krause has fought a lot of tough opponents, but he says Jorge Masvidal is the toughest opponent he’s had to date.

During an interview with Fighters Only, a print magazine, Krause ranked the best fights of his career. He gave the No. 5 spot to Masvidal, and labeled the Miami native his toughest foe to date.

 

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“I fought some really good guys before people knew they were really good,” Krause said, opening up on his fight with Masvidal. “I fought Michael Johnson, Bobby Green, Ricardo Lamas and a lot of other guys before people knew they were good.

“If you look back at the Jorge Masvidal fight, it was really competitive,” Krause continued. “We were going back and fourth. I still feel like he was the best guy I ever fought. What I learned was what being a veteran means in a fight. He is the definition of a veteran, man. If you are pacing at a level 6, he is pacing at a 6.5. If you turn it down to a 4, he turns it down to a 4.5. If you wrestle, he wrestles a little bit harder. He is really good at staying one step ahead of you. He is the toughest guy I ever fought. I feel like now he is just starting to get his notoriety. He leveled me up i terms of fight IQ. I really appreciated the fight with him.”

Krause fought Masvidal in a 155-pound lightweight bout in 2014. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Krause’s last fight occurred in the middleweight division, where he lost a split decision to Trevin Giles in a short-notice fight. Masvidal, meanwhile, is riding a short-notice decision loss to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

Who do you want to see Jorge Masvidal fight next?