‘Weird’ Jeremy Stephens ‘snapped’ on Drakkar Klose: ‘That’s just not the guy I know’

Cortney Casey did not recognize the Jeremy Stephens who injured her husband, Drakkar Klose, at the UFC Vegas 24 weigh-in.

Stephens aggressively shoved Klose (watch here) during their face-off at the weigh-in preceding an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night card in mid-April. Klose allegedly suffered a concussion because of the unexpected shove and was forced off the card. Casey — who was scheduled to fight Liana Jojua at UFC Vegas 34 prior to the bout being postponed — is still piecing together what led to Stephens’ physical aggression.

“I’ve met Jeremy a few times and that’s just not the guy I know,” Casey told MMAMania.com. “It was weird. All of his press conferences, all of his interviews. I just watched the one where he was talking about how he won the fight against Dre. It almost seemed like he was told not to go there.

“It was weird, it was just weird — his whole vibe was weird,” she added.

LIVE! Stream UFC San Antonio On ESPN+

BLOCKBUSTER BANTAMWEIGHT CONTENDERS’ BOUT! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) departs APEX for a special “Fight Night” extravaganza at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Sat., March 25, 2023, featuring a pair of thrilling 135-pound bouts. Surging No. 4-ranked contender Marlon Vera goes for his fifth consecutive win when he takes on exciting finisher and No. 5-seeded Cory Sandhagen. In UFC San Antonio’s ESPN+streamed co-main event, former women’s 135-pound champion and current No. 3-ranked Holly Holm battles Yana Santos (No. 4).

Don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!

• STREAM NOW

Casey detailed what fight week was like for Klose and Stephens in the lead-up to the dreaded weigh-in.

“Dre’s fight week with him was weird. The relationship between them at the UFC PI was cool. Just the day before we all had to go get our fitting for the gear and do press. The UFC people were trying to keep us separated from Jeremy. They came up to us like, ‘We know you guys aren’t like this and don’t care if you see your opponent, but other people do so we’re just going to try and keep you guys away from each other.’ They moved us around so we wouldn’t see him. I was like, ‘That’s kind of weird.’ We saw him at the PI and he was cool. Then weigh-ins happened,” Casey said. “I don’t know if he snapped or what.”

Stephens instead fought Mateusz Gamrot in his move up to UFC’s Lightweight division. “Lil’ Heathen” suffered a submission loss (watch here) a little more than one minute into the fight. Casey thinks the decisive loss closed the book on an immediate fight between him and Klose.

“You see him fight and he gets tapped. I don’t think he even threw a punch, did he?” she asked. “It happened so quickly that I was like. ‘Wait, what?’ And then him calling out McGregor afterward. This doesn’t even make sense.

“I’m glad it’s over with as far as dealing with Jeremy. People are still asking Dre if he’s still going to run that fight back. At this point, it really does Dre nothing to fight him.... Him losing in the fashion that he lost, it doesn’t make sense for Dre to fight him at this point.”

Casey may have had a bone to pick with Stephens, but now her attention is firmly on the beef she has with her husband. Klose recently shared an Instagram Story rating the cheesesteak Casey made for him, giving it a paltry score of 6.5 out of 10.

“One, I don’t ever eat Philly cheesesteaks because they come with onions and I don’t like onions. So I’ve personally never had a Philly cheesesteak,” Casey protested. “He was complaining, he was mad, he was upset that I failed him. I got a 6.5, which is a pretty sh—ty review out of 10.”

Casey, a former Division I soccer player at the University of Texas at El Paso, also ranked her soccer skills among UFC’s roster.

“A lot of those guys are good. I’d say I’m up there. Definitely top five for sure. If it’s a team sport, you have to narrow it down to the individual. Would it be a shooting contest or a dribbling contest? Jose Aldo is very good at juggling, I’m personally decent at juggling, but I wouldn’t win that contest,” she mulled. “I would say top five.”

Finished reading this story? The party doesn’t have to stop. Click here to get more exclusive interviews.