Tomorrow on the main card of UFC London, one of the better light heavyweights in the history of the promotion will make his return. Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson (18-7) returns to the light heavyweight division to take on Nikita Krylov (27-9).
For Gustafsson this will be his first fight in over two years and just his fourth fight in the last four years. The last time we saw him was at a UFC Fight Night in 2020 when he fought Fabricio Werdum at heavyweight. He was submitted in that fight.
Since then he’s been laying low. Gustafsson is currently on a three-fight losing streak. His last victory came back in 2017 when he knocked out former UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira.
Nikita Krylov is also on a losing streak entering UFC London. Krylov has lost two fights in a row to Magomed Ankalaev and Paul Craig. Now, he was moments away from finishing Craig in their fight before getting caught in a triangle choke. He’s looking to make a huge statement tomorrow against Gustafsson.
UFC London Prediction
To me, this is such a fascinating matchup due to the unknown. I really don’t know what to expect from Alexander Gustafsson at UFC London. Again, we haven’t seen Gustafsson in over two years and he’s on this losing streak.
I don’t know if he’s going to resemble his prime self or if he will look like a shell. Krylov has looked pretty good in his last few outings despite the losses. He’s been active and he’s looked sharp in recent UFC fights.
For that reason, I’m really leaning towards Krylov in this matchup. Now, if Gustafsson looks sharp on his feet and uses his rangey boxing, he can win. However, it’s hard for me to pick him with the inactivity and looking at recent performances from Krylov.
Prediction: Nikita Krylov by Decision