Nikita Krylov Record: 31-12-0

Building a reputation

Krylov stacked finishes through the mid-2010s, submitting Francimar Barroso and head-kicking Ed Herman into a highlight reel in 2016. A submission loss to Misha Cirkunov sent him on a spell outside the UFC, where he kept finishing opponents before returning. Back in the Octagon, he avenged himself against St. Preux with a rear-naked choke in 2019 but came up just short in a split-decision loss to former champion Glover Teixeira — one of several razor-thin results against the division's elite, including a 2018 submission loss to Jan Błachowicz.

Veteran resurgence

Krylov entered the 2020s as a grizzled gatekeeper-turned-contender. He outpointed Johnny Walker in 2020, then weathered a decision loss to Magomed Ankalaev and a submission defeat to Paul Craig before unleashing arguably his best stretch: a first-round knockout of former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson and a decision over Volkan Oezdemir in 2022, followed by a triangle-choke submission of Ryan Spann in 2023. Late-career knockouts losses to Dominick Reyes and Bogdan Guskov in 2025 underlined the risks of his style, but he rebounded in January 2026 with a knockout of Modestas Bukauskas at UFC 324.

Fighting style

Krylov is a finisher to his core. With 29 of his 31 wins coming inside the distance — 13 by knockout and 16 by submission — he is one of the rare fighters genuinely dangerous in every phase, blending heavy hands and head kicks with an opportunistic, sambo-bred submission game. He fights at a frenetic pace and chases the finish relentlessly, which makes his bouts must-watch but also leaves him vulnerable: most of his losses have come by knockout or submission, the flip side of a high-risk approach that rarely produces a dull result. The end product is one of light heavyweight's most reliably explosive competitors.

Career highlights

• First-round KO of Alexander Gustafsson — stopped the former two-time title challenger Alexander Gustafsson in 2022, one of the signature wins of his resurgence.
• Elite finishing rate — 29 of his 31 wins came inside the distance, split between 13 knockouts and 16 submissions for a 94% finish rate.
• Two-way threat — a head-kick artist with a sambo-rooted submission game, equally capable of ending fights standing or on the mat against top-tier competition.