The
Ultimate Fighting Championship is making sure its 2025 return
to the 305 will be a memorable one.
According to
MMA Fighting on Friday, light heavyweight contenders Nikita
Krylov (30-9) and Dominick
Reyes (14-4) will be throwing down at UFC 314 on April 12. The
two 205ers will likely tangle in the city of Miami in the Kaseya
Center, although the location has not been officially announced
yet. The report of this high-stakes pairing has since been
confirmed by
other outlets.
Krylov, the higher-ranked fighter of the two, will come in on a
three-fight win streak. This will be his first appearance in over
two years, however, as he last tapped out Ryan Spann in
March 2023. The Russian born in Ukraine was previously booked
against Azamat
Murzakanov towards the end of 2024, but the latter pulled out
for undisclosed reasons. As a professional, Krylov abhors judges’
decisions, only going the distance four times in 39 outings.
Former title challenger Reyes has been a man possessed since taking
on Dustin
Jacoby in June 2024. After punching out the ex-kickboxer in two
punches, Reyes put himself on his first win streak since 2019 by
laying waste to Anthony
Smith. These two defeats put a four-fight skid—one that
commenced with a razor-close decision loss to Jon Jones at
UFC 247—in a rear-view mirror, even with three of those four
setbacks coming via strikes. Like Krylov, Reyes has heard the final
bell on four separate occasions, although his ledger only includes
18 appearances.
UFC 314 will likely play out inside of the Kaseya Center in Miami
on April 12. There is currently no headliner on the books, although
pay-per-view cards generally feature at least one championship
tilt. Other than Krylov-Reyes, the only other pairing booked for
this show is a 170-pound offering and potential passing of the
torch matchup as Gilbert
Burns faces Michael
Morales.Virna Jandiroba vs Xiaonan Yan