Nikita Krylov booked for Octagon return opposite 4th-ranked Jan Blachowicz

There will be no warmup for Nikita Krylov’s return to the UFC. Krylov, who parted ways with the promotion in 2016, is set to return to the Octagon at UFC Moscow on September 15, where he will battle the UFC’s fourth-ranked light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz.

This bout was recently made official by the UFC on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/UFCEurope/status/1024566679563657216?s=19

Nikita Krylov last fought the promotion in 2016, when he was submitted by Canada’s Misha Cirkunov. This loss marked the end of a five-fight win-streak for the Ukrainian. Shortly after this loss, Krylov parted ways with the UFC.

His next fight occurred under the Fight Nights Global banner, where he submitted Stjepan Bekavac. He then fought for a regional promotion in Ukraine where he knocked Maro Perak, before returning to the FNG cage, where he knocked out former Bellator champion Emanuel Newton, and former UFC star Fabio Maldonado to capture the FNG light heavyweight belt. Nikita Krylov returns to the Octagon with an impressive 24–5 overall record.

Blachowicz, meanwhile, last fought in March, on the main card of UFC London. On that night, the Polish star avenged a 2015 decision loss to Jimi Manuwa, defeating the British knockout artist by decision in a Fight of the Night winning scrap. In his next most recent fights, Blachowicz defeated Jared Cannonier by decision and Devin Clark by submission. His last loss occurred in April of 2017 when he was defeated by Patrick Cummins. He’s 22-7 overall.

Here is the full UFC Moscow bill as it currently stands:

UFC Moscow:

265 lbs.: Mark Hunt vs. Aleksei Oleinik
185 lbs.: Omari Akhmedov vs. C.B. Dollaway
265 lbs.: Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Andrei Arlovski
205 lbs.: Jan Blachowicz vs. Nikita Krylov
185 lbs.: Krzysztof Jotko vs. Adam Yandiev
135 lbs.: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Terrion Ware
135 lbs.: Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Petr Yan
155 lbs.: Desmond Green vs. Mairbek Taisumov
170 lbs.: Thiago Alves vs. Alexey Kunchenko

How do you think Nikita Krylov will perform opposite Jan Blachowicz?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/1/2018.