Nikita Krylov won't fanboy out against a personal favorite at UFC 329
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LAS VEGAS – Nikita Krylov has stood across from a virtual who's-who at light heavyweight in his career, so Saturday will be no different.
The 34-year-old Ukrainian has fought seven fighters in the UFC who have been light heavyweight champion or fought for the 205-pound title at some point in their careers. At UFC 329 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, he'll face his eighth.
Krylov (31-11 MMA, 12-9 UFC) closes the prelims against former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (26-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC), who is moving up to light heavyweight.
And it's a long time coming for Krylov, who said he's dealt with a veritable game of musical chairs for who'd be his next test after a third-round knockout of Modestas Bukauskas in January.
"This is probably the third date and the second opponent that we've had since my last win in January," Krylov said at Wednesday's UFC 329 (Paramount+) media day. "We weren't able to secure a fight that was supposed to happen in Canada that didn't work out. Then there was a date with Robert already in Australia that didn't come out because he wasn't ready for that fight, and now we have this fight here.
"To be honest, I'm very much happy about Robert standing in front of me because he's one of my favorite fighters, and for me it's a huge honor to share the octagon with such a legend as Robert Whittaker."
Krylov is 3-5 in his eight fights against those aforementioned seven champs or title challengers (he's 1-1 Ovince St. Preux). But clearly, a win over Whittaker would be the biggest of his career so far.
And Krylov thinks if he can find a way to mitigate Whittaker's quickness, that will be his path to a win.
"(He's had a) legendary career, but I have went to many wars in the octagon, as well," Krylov said. "I think the one thing that everybody is talking about is his speed. He was very much a fast striker in the middleweight division. They're saying that his speed is going to transfer to light heavyweight, so I think out of all the aspects that he's bringing to the octagon, the one thing I have to watch out is how speedy, how quick he is in his attacks."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Nikita Krylov won't fanboy out against a personal favorite at UFC 329