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Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker finished Nikita Krylov in the third round of an impressive light heavyweight debut at UFC 329, which took place Saturday inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
"Feast your eyes on that," a thrilled Whittaker, 35, said immediately after his win.
Moving up to middleweight from welterweight reinvigorated Whittaker's career in 2014, as his ensuing run at 185 pounds saw him become UFC champion with wins over Yoel Romero, Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa.
But his form of late has been stop-start, losing four of his past seven prior to UFC 329, including back-to-back losses to Khamzat Chimaev and Reinier de Ridder.
Whittaker (27-9) even conceded Saturday night that "there were a lot of nerves" riding on his fight against Krylov. "But Bobby's still got it, by the looks of things," he said, as the ex-champ relaunches his Hall of Fame-worthy career, once again, in a new weight class.
Krylov (31-12) held a clear size advantage, but it was something the 34-year-old Ukrainian could never take advantage of, showing little more than a mere intent to wrestle in the first round. Instead, the story of the opener, the second round, and the beginning of the third was Whittaker's superior speed, shot selection and crisp boxing.
Whittaker hit Kyrlov with swift one-twos, a double jab and right hand, and even a huge right kick at the bell. Krylov's responses were swing-and-misses. He telegraphed his strikes and rarely looked likely to land anything of substance, with Whittaker growing in confidence as the fight went on.
"Bobby Knuckles" even wobbled Krylov in the second round with a combination of punches while rushing forward, landing straight shots with that hands-down style of his, knocking Kyrlov's head back for good measure.
Kyrlov, after 10 minutes, had no answer for Whittaker's boxing as the former champ kept scoring with the same punching flurries again and again.
Then came the end.
Early in the third round, Whittaker appeared to break Krylov's jaw with a nasty sequence, one that perturbed Krylov so much he withdrew from the contest, rewarding Whittaker with a knockout just one minute and one second into the third round.
"I trained [thinking] that every touch would kill me," Whittaker said. "That's not the case.
"I came in heavy, had an excellent game plan and I hit as hard as anybody else. This is my home now. The middleweight page is closed."
Earlier at UFC 329, red-hot prospect Gable Steveson overpowered Elisha Ellison in the very first round, Adrian Yanez finished former champion Cody Garbrandt, and Luke Riley scored a first-round stoppage over Kai Kamaka.
Check out complete UFC 329 results, highlights and round-by-round updates here.
Continue reading...
"Feast your eyes on that," a thrilled Whittaker, 35, said immediately after his win.
Moving up to middleweight from welterweight reinvigorated Whittaker's career in 2014, as his ensuing run at 185 pounds saw him become UFC champion with wins over Yoel Romero, Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa.
But his form of late has been stop-start, losing four of his past seven prior to UFC 329, including back-to-back losses to Khamzat Chimaev and Reinier de Ridder.
Whittaker (27-9) even conceded Saturday night that "there were a lot of nerves" riding on his fight against Krylov. "But Bobby's still got it, by the looks of things," he said, as the ex-champ relaunches his Hall of Fame-worthy career, once again, in a new weight class.
Krylov (31-12) held a clear size advantage, but it was something the 34-year-old Ukrainian could never take advantage of, showing little more than a mere intent to wrestle in the first round. Instead, the story of the opener, the second round, and the beginning of the third was Whittaker's superior speed, shot selection and crisp boxing.
Whittaker hit Kyrlov with swift one-twos, a double jab and right hand, and even a huge right kick at the bell. Krylov's responses were swing-and-misses. He telegraphed his strikes and rarely looked likely to land anything of substance, with Whittaker growing in confidence as the fight went on.
"Bobby Knuckles" even wobbled Krylov in the second round with a combination of punches while rushing forward, landing straight shots with that hands-down style of his, knocking Kyrlov's head back for good measure.
Kyrlov, after 10 minutes, had no answer for Whittaker's boxing as the former champ kept scoring with the same punching flurries again and again.
Then came the end.
Early in the third round, Whittaker appeared to break Krylov's jaw with a nasty sequence, one that perturbed Krylov so much he withdrew from the contest, rewarding Whittaker with a knockout just one minute and one second into the third round.
"I trained [thinking] that every touch would kill me," Whittaker said. "That's not the case.
"I came in heavy, had an excellent game plan and I hit as hard as anybody else. This is my home now. The middleweight page is closed."
Earlier at UFC 329, red-hot prospect Gable Steveson overpowered Elisha Ellison in the very first round, Adrian Yanez finished former champion Cody Garbrandt, and Luke Riley scored a first-round stoppage over Kai Kamaka.
Check out complete UFC 329 results, highlights and round-by-round updates here.
Continue reading...
