Australia’s former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has made a stunning start to his light heavyweight career, showing the world he has "still got it" with a third-round stoppage of 12th ranked Nikita Krylov at UFC 329 in Las Vegas.
Sydneysider Whittaker’s famed fast hands proved too hot for the Russian, who turned away and forced the referee to stop the fight one minute into the third round after appearing to suffer damage to his jaw from a right hand punch.
Whittaker landed a big right a few seconds before the stoppage and another precise and precise powerful shot ended the fight.
The 35-year-old Sydneysider enjoyed his first win since June 2024, having suffered losses in his last two fights at middleweight.
“I feel on top of the world, the nerves was a rollercoaster for this one,” Whittaker said.
“Back-to-back losses, moving up a weight class, we’ve seen this story said and read a ton of times, I’m glad I showed the world Bobby has still got it.
“I had an excellent game plan and I hit as hard as everybody else.
“This is my home now, the middleweight page is closed. I’m proud of the work I did there, but light heavyweight Bobby is here.
“This is my natural weight class, this is where I feel naturally strong and powerful.”
Whittaker landed good right and left hand shots in the first 30 seconds, before Krylov took him down but inflicted no damage.
Statistics during the fight showed Whittaker landing shots exclusively to the head and none to the body or legs.
“I did a lot of damage and work In the first round and then in the second round I felt good,” Whittaker said.
“With the way the first round ended, I started getting into the groove.
“I had his timing and I had his reach and blew my lungs out a bit and felt better in the second."
Despite the emphatic finish, Whittaker conceded it wasn’t a faultless performance
“A lot of tactical errors, I made, I didn’t move backwards in a straight line,” Whittaker said.
“I’m happy with the work that I did but I’m not going to sit on my laurels.
“I’m going to get back to work and come in better next time.”
Whittaker improved his MMA record to 28-9 and Krylov dropped to 31-12.
