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Light Heavyweights
#10 LHW | Nikita Krylov (28-9, 9-7 UFC) vs. #8 LHW | Volkan Oezdemir (18-6, 6-5 UFC)Advertisement
An entertaining pairing helps sort things out at 205 pounds. Oezdemir’s breakout 2017 remains among one of the biggest years for an individual fighter in recent memory, as “No Time” started the year as a regional heavyweight and ended the year as the top contender in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Oezdemir stepped into the UFC as a late replacement and won an ugly decision over Ovince St. Preux, earning the Swiss fighter a ranking that figured to make him a steppingstone for other potential contenders. Instead, Oezdemir knocked out Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa in a combined 50 seconds, setting himself up for a title shot at Daniel Cormier to kick off 2018. From there, Oezdemir’s luck corrected itself a bit, as he started losing even while he obviously improved as a fighter, eventually settling in as a gatekeeper to the divisional elite. While he is a steady striker who can hold his own just about anywhere, he has also found himself overmatched against the better and more aggressive athletes among the light heavyweight ranks. On the plus side, Oezdemir did at least show he is capable of passing a test that many before him have failed, surviving three ugly rounds against the submission stylings of Paul Craig to snap his most recent losing streak. Oezdemir looks to make it two straight wins against Krylov, who has followed a similar path from unknown to Top 10 light heavyweight.
While Oezdemir scored an important win in his UFC debut, Krylov did quite the opposite back in 2013, looking terrible while losing a memorably sloppy affair to fellow heavyweight Soa Palelei. Combined with Krylov’s paper-thin regional record—much more of a rarity in the UFC back then—“The Miner” figured to have a short-lived UFC run, so naturally, his next fight saw him knock out Walt Harris in just 25 seconds. From there, Krylov cut down to light heavyweight in a move that seemed to unlock all of his athletic potential. Now in shape, he was able to leverage his constant aggression and extreme durability into win after win. In recent years, Krylov has hit a clear plateau. Faced with a strong wrestler or grappler, he is more than willing to charge into some disadvantageous positions or outright submissions, including a triangle choke loss to Craig in March. However, if Krylov can outwrestle or just run over an opponent, he is more than capable of doing so. His last win was a 67-second shellacking of Alexander Gustafsson as the Swede winds down his career. Oezdemir is a stout challenge and a perennially tough out, but given how uncomfortable he seemed to be against Craig’s aggressive grappling—while also clearly winning the fight against the Scotsman—suggests that he is going to have a tough time here. Given that knocking Krylov out seems to be near-impossible, there should be a point where the Ukrainian can take this over through sheer aggression and start finding some wrestling success. He could just coast out a late win, but this could get ugly by the third round if Krylov gets Oezdemir fully in survival mode. The pick is Krylov via third-round stoppage.
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