Paul Craig vs. Nikita Krylov scheduled for UFC London

UFC London is shaping up quite nicely, especially with the recent addition of a light heavyweight contest featuring ranked contenders.

The UFC confirmed that Paul Craig and Nikita Krylov are meeting at the upcoming Fight Night event set to take place on March 19 at the O2 Arena. Craig previously teased the fight during an appearance on Believe You Me, the podcast hosted by former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

Craig has gone 4-0-1 in his past five appearances. ‘Bearjew’ rebounded from a knockout loss to Alonzo Menifield at UFC on ESPN 3 with a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded first-round rear-naked choke of Vinicius Moreira at UFC on ESPN+ 17 in 2019. The Scotsman then had a quick turnaround and met Maurício ‘Shogun’ Rua in Brazil, where they fought to a split draw.

A win over Gadzhimurad Antigulov soon followed, and the 34-year-old went on to rematch Rua. This time, Craig forced the Brazilian to tap to strikes in the second round. The No. 11 ranked contender recently extended his win streak at UFC 263 with a first-round TKO of Jamahal Hill, who had his arm dislocated after being locked up in what appeared to be a fight-ending armbar.

Krylov rejoined the UFC in late 2018 and has alternated wins and losses in his second run with the promotion. The ‘Miner’ has wins over Ovince Saint Preux and Johnny Walker wedged between losses to Jan Blachowicz, Glover Teixeira and Magomed Ankalaev.

UFC London is headlined by a heavyweight fight between Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall.