Per sources, light heavyweight bout between
Nikita Krylov and Magomed Ankalaev has been added to UFC Fight
Night on Feb. 27. Fun fight. Ankalaev a potential dark horse in the
division. Looking to add to a five-fight win streak.— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN)
December 30, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. The betting line for Fight Doesn’t Go to Decision will be
through the roof for this upcoming
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight rumble. ESPN
announced on Tuesday that Nikita
Krylov (27-7) would be taking on Magomed
Ankalaev (14-1) at the
UFC Fight Night card on Feb. 27. This light heavyweight bout,
and the card itself, does not have an official destination on the
books, but it likely will be held either in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates, or in Las Vegas.
Krylov has alternated wins and losses in each of his last five,
including two wins and two defeats in his return to the Las
Vegas-based promotion. The Ukrainian won his first career decision
against Johnny
Walker in March 2020, while he went the distance for the first
time in his then 33-fight career by dropping a split decision to
Glover
Teixeira. Making his organizational debut back in 2013 at
heavyweight, the man formerly known as “Al Capone” won six bouts
with finishes over Walt Harris
and Ed
Herman along the way, but left after a single loss to Misha
Cirkunov in 2016. He returned to the UFC after four finishes in
Russia and the Ukraine.
Ankalaev is riding an impressive five-fight win streak that has
seen him finish Ion
Cutelaba twice in the span of a year. The first win a
controversial one, referee Kevin MacDonald prematurely stopped the
contest. The rematch months later left no doubt, as Ankalaev
knocked Cutelaba out cold with strikes. The lone loss of the
Russian’s career came in his company debut against Paul Craig,
when after dominating the fight for the good part of three rounds,
Ankalaev fell into a triangle choke and tapped out at the 4:59
mark.
The UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 27 does not yet have an official
location, although it will likely take place in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates, or Las Vegas. This card will be capped off by a
light heavyweight thriller between two-time title challenger
Dominick
Reyes and rising star Jiri
Prochazka. The main card will also feature an all-Brazil
bantamweight banger as Raphael
Assuncao comes to blows with Raoni
Barcelos.
