Preview: UFC Fight Night 158 ‘Cowboy vs. Gaethje’

Light Heavyweights

Glover Teixeira (29-7) vs. Nikita Krylov (25-6)

ODDS: Krylov (-120), Teixeira (+100)

Teixeira’s days of title contention may be over, but he remains a top light heavyweight even as he approaches 40 years of age. Thanks to visa issues, Teixeira got a late start to his UFC career, but he quickly lived up to the hype as soon as he made his way stateside, rattling off enough dominant wins to earn a shot at Jon Jones. Like everyone before him, Teixeira’s efforts against Jones ended in defeat, but he still hung around the fringes of the title picture until 2017, at which point losses to Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson likely permanently knocked him down a tier. Since then, Teixeira has served as a gatekeeper to the divisional elite and done quite well in the role. He looked slow in a one-sided loss to Corey Anderson, but rumors of the Brazilian’s demise were greatly exaggerated, as he overcame early adversity to dispatch Karl Roberson and Ion Cutelaba. Teixeira’s toughness and veteran savvy make up for his diminished athleticism, so he should be able to rack up wins until the wheels eventually fall off. Krylov is the next man up to try and use Teixeira as a steppingstone.

It is still strange to have to take Krylov seriously, given that he started his mainstream MMA career as little more than a punchline. A native of the Ukraine with a puffed-up record, Krylov’s UFC debut against Soa Palelei was an instant classic in all of the worst ways, as both men gassed in short order and spent the better part of their fight flopping around like mating whales. However, a shockingly quick knockout of Walt Harris in his next fight showed that Krylov might actually have some talent, and since he trimmed down to light heavyweight, “The Miner” has enjoyed a surprising amount of success. First came a five-fight winning streak, and after dropping a 2016 bout to Misha Cirkunov, Krylov won some fights back in Russia before making his return to the Octagon. While Jan Blachowicz outclassed him, an April win over Ovince St. Preux re-affirmed that there is indeed something there with Krylov, even if he feels like he can spontaneously combust at any moment.

Once again, Teixeira faces someone with much more athleticism and much worse technique, and Krylov is probably the most extreme example of both of those contrasts. It is difficult to say that Krylov has become a particularly good fighter, but he has gotten better at fighting at a relentless pace, which has been enough to overwhelm a wide swath of his opponents in a thin division. However, that pace and finishing ability comes at the expense of just about everything else, particularly his defense -- a hole opponents like Cirkunov and Blachowicz managed to exploit without much difficulty. It is hard not to see the same thing happening here. Krylov could theoretically get a quick knockout, but thus far, it has taken the power of Anthony Johnson and a multi-uppercut volley from Alexander Gustafsson to spark out Teixeira, and he has managed to weather tons of abuse from the likes of Roberson and Cutelaba. It may not even take that to get a win this time around. Part of Krylov’s aggression is that he looks to wrestle, and that figures to just give Teixeira an opportunity to reverse positions and start laying on some damage. The pick is Teixeira via first-round submission.

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