Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann’s battle to rise up the UFC light heavyweight rankings will headline the next Fight Night, set for the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 26 February 2023.
Krylov (29-9) is chasing a third straight win, having claimed victories over Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir since the middle of last year. The 30-year-old Ukrainian is ranked sixth in the division, but has admitted that he is not sure what lies in store for him in the near future.
“I can’t guess at what moment of my career I am now; it's very hard,” answered ‘The Miner’ when asked if he feels like he’s ready to embark on a run of success.
“It’s hard to think of anything like that in MMA. When Cain Velasquez beat Brock Lesnar, many thought that here we have a heavyweight who would rule the division for several years. When Khabib (Nurmagomedov) beat Rafael Dos Anjos, everyone thought that he had only a few months left before the championship. You can give many examples.”
Spann (21-7) is also fresh from two wins in 2022, finishing both Ion Cutelaba and Dominick Reyes in the first round of those matches.
The 31-year-old ‘Superman’ is ranked ninth in the division and believes he should have been higher up the ladder by now, admitting that he did not take his career seriously through most of his younger years.
“I feel like I wasted a lot of my 20s,” Spann said. “I did, athletically, because I didn’t really take it seriously enough. I knew how good I am, I knew how good I was. Everything always came so easy. I was just too immature to realise.
“My brother would always tell me, ‘You need to be able to back your skills up with strength and conditioning,’ and I was like, ‘Why? I can kick people in the head. Why stretch?’ And it just kind of snowballed from there. We’ve got it under control now, though.”
The rest of the fight card features a middleweight clash between Andre Muniz and Brendan Allen; Augusto Sakai v Don’Tale Mayes in the heavyweight division; and a women’s featherweight fight between Tatiana Suarez and Montana De La Rosa, among others.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: KRYLOV VS. SPANN – FIGHT CARD
- Main event: Light heavyweight: Nikita Krylov v Ryan Spann
- Middleweight: Andre Muniz v Brendan Allen
- Heavyweight: Augusto Sakai v Don’Tale Mayes
- Women’s featherweight: Tatiana Suarez v Montana De La Rosa
- Welterweight: Mike Malott v Yohan Lainesse
- Women’s flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius v Gabriella Fernandes
- Lightweight: Jordan Leavitt v Victor Martinez
- Lightweight: Joe Solecki v Carl Deaton
- Catchweight: Ode’ Osbourne v Charles Johnson
- Lightweight: Rafael Alves v Nurullo Aliev
- Women’s bantamweight: Hailey Cowan v Ailin Perez
- Bantamweight: Jose Johnson v Garrett Armfield
- Lightweight: Erick Gonzalez v Trevor Peek