Report | Alexander Gustafsson vs. Nikita Krylov Slated For UFC Event On July 23.
A light heavyweight matchup between three-time division title challenger, Alexander Gustafsson, and the #11 ranked division contender, Nikita Krylov has been added to a UFC Fight Night event on July 23. At the time of publication, an official location or venue for the showcase has yet to be determined by the promotion, however, discussions for the event to be held in London, England have taken place.
Sidelined since a brief heavyweight excursion at UFC Fight Island 3 in July 2020, Swedish veteran, Alexander Gustafsson made his Octagon return in a rather one-sided first round armbar loss to former undisputed heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum.
For Krylov, the Luhansk-born contender featured most recently at UFC London at The O2 Arena in March, suffering a first round rallying submission loss against surging Scottish submission specialist, Paul Craig. Swedish outlet, FrontKick MMA was first to report the news of Gustafsson’s booking against Krylov.
Without a victory in his last three consecutive Octagon appearances, Arboga veteran, Alexander Gustafsson was slated to tackle the aforenoted, Craig at UFC Vegas 36 last September until an undisclosed injury forced him from the outing.
Alexander Gustafsson has challenged Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier for light heavyweight gold
Gustafsson was since slated to meet with Ben Rothwell at a UFC Fight Night event in May, until the latter was removed from the event and subsequently handed his release from the organization before penning a deal with BKFC.
18-7 as a professional, Gustafsson’s most recent professional victory came in the form of a UFC Fight Night Stockholm maine event outing against current undisputed light heavyweight champion, Glover Teixeira – stopping the Brazilian with a May 2017 highlight-reel knockout win.
In the midst of his second tenure with the UFC, former Fight Nights Global light heavyweight champion, Krylov has since embarked on a six-fight run with the organization since his second stint began.
Establishing a 2-4 promotional record, Krylov returned with a pair of victories against both upcoming UFC 274 feature, Ovince Saint Preux, and in his last professional triumph, defeated Brazilian contender, Johnny Walker in a hostile territory unanimous decision win in March 2020.
