UFC Vegas 70 Preview (Krylov vs. Spann)
UFC Vegas 70 is taking place Saturday, February 25th at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be headlined by a light heavyweight fight between hopeful contenders #6 Nikita Krylov and #8 Ryan Spann.
Krylov is on a two-fight winning streak which is the rebound he has been looking for after going 2-4 in his previous six fights. He most recently defeated former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 280 in October. A third win in a row will get him a high-profile top five fight in a division that is chaotic at the top of the rankings.
It is hard to believe that Krylov is still only 30 years old considering he made his debut in the UFC at heavyweight back in 2013. The Russian fighter now finds himself in his first main event. How does he feel?
“It’s a big deal for me,” Krylov said. “It’s the first main event for me. I feel myself great. I’ve had a great camp, good acclimatization, and now I just wait for Saturday.”
Krylov believes he is being taken seriously as a contender now. “It means that I’m progressing, that I’m moving forward, and I’m not just staying in one place,” Krylov explained. “It means the organization is seeing what I’m doing and believes in me and trust me to main event in such an important organization, so I think it’s great. I feel great about it.”
Despite wanting a fight with a top five fighter, Krylov believes a main event with Spann was necessary. “I want fights with guys who are higher than me in the rankings because I want contender fights, but when my manager sent me, ‘I have main event for Ryan Spann,’ that’s first for me, so listen it’s a main event, so it’s good,” Krylov said. “That’s why Spann is Ok. He’s a tough guy, interesting fight.”
Aside from Oezdemir, Krylov has key victories in his career over Alexander Gustafsson, Johnny Walker, Ovince Saint Preux, Fabio Maldonado, Ed Herman and Walt Harris. A victory over Spann represents Krylov’s arrival into the title conversation.
Spann is 3-2 in his last five fights but is on a two-fight winning streak, having most recently defeated former title challenger Dominick Reyes with an impressive first round KO at UFC 281 in November. The 31-year-old is ready to fight his fight against Krylov.
“I don’t know his style,” Spann said. “I don’t know what he’s going to do, I don’t care what he’s going to try to do. I just know that if I have fun, and be calm, I’ll see everything.”
At UFC 282 the light heavyweight title changed hands, but not without chaos first. Spann revealed he was considered to step in on short notice to fight for the title or a #1 contender fight. The title fight was eventually given to former champion Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev.
“I was going to fight, I want to say, Jan at first,” said Spann. “Then from there I was going to fight for the No. 1 guaranteed, and then fight the winner for, at the time, was an interim belt. So, Magomed and Glover were going to fight for the interim, and then I was going to fight for No. 1, because they already knew that homie was going to be out for a while.”
Blachowicz and Anakalaev fought to a draw leaving the title up for grabs and it was claimed at UFC 283 by Jamahal Hill. Spann believes he will be fighting for that title and then his teammate Kennedy Nzechukwu will take over.
“My plan is to get the belt, then I’ll leave it for Kennedy,” Spann said. “When Kennedy’s ready, I’ll either go up, or I’ll be done.”
The rest of the main card:
Middleweight - #11 André Muniz vs. Brendan Allen
Heavyweight - Augusto Sakai vs. Don'Tale Mayes
Women's Flyweight - Tatiana Suarez vs. Montana De La Rosa
Welterweight - Mike Malott vs. Yohan Lainesse
ESPN + Prelims:
Women's Flyweight - Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Gabriella Fernandes
Lightweight - Jordan Leavitt vs. Victor Martinez
Lightweight - Joe Solecki vs. Carl Deaton III
Catchweight (130 lb) - Ode' Osbourne vs. Charles Johnson
Lightweight - Rafael Alves vs. Nurollo Aliev
Women's Bantamweight - Hailey Cowan vs. Ailin Perez
Bantamweight - Garrett Armfield vs. José Johnson
Lightweight - Erick Gonzalez vs. Trevor Peek
