James Krause is a former WEC and Bellator vet who holds a notable win over “TUF” finalist Michael Johnson. Krause is a massive lightweight who cuts roughly thirty pounds to make 155 (he was at 191 pounds just three weeks out of his bout with Ricardo Lamas), and will need to continue working on his technical skills to compliment that size.

Krause is a lanky grappler with exceptionally long limbs. Although he did wrestle in high school even by his own admission he did not fair well, and stylistically he’s more of a jiu jitsu player on the mat. Self trained for the most part, Krause is an aggressive submission grappler who’s comfortable off his back. His long limbs and flexibility make him especially dangerous with triangle attempts, and due to his frame and flexibility he’s generally a tricky and unorthodox guard player to deal with. From top position Krause uses his punching and hammer fists well while working hard to pass. However as early bouts with Toby Imada and Donald Cerrone have shown, Krause will need to shore up his positional, technical and defensive mat skills. His wrestling and sprawl will also require improvement, but Krause has shown good instincts and solid skill fighting from bottom or top position.

Due to his length and frame, Krause does prefer to work his kicks and jab from the outside. Because he doesn’t have the speed or reaction time that many of his peers possess, Krause will often let opposition fighters get inside his range and should work towards improving his counter punching. Still developing as a striker, Krause will need to shore up his defense and technique.