Krylov warns Whittaker's light heavyweight debut will end like Adesanya's failed title bid

Nikita Krylov has drawn a pointed historical parallel to dismiss Robert Whittaker’s light heavyweight ambitions, predicting the former middleweight champion will be sent straight back to 185 pounds when the two meet at UFC 329 on Saturday, 11 July at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Whittaker (26-9) makes his light heavyweight debut against Krylov (31-11) on the back of consecutive losses to Khamzat Chimaev and Reinier de Ridder — defeats that ended any realistic prospect of a third middleweight title shot. Krylov believes Whittaker is chasing the kind of division-hopping success Alex Pereira achieved when he claimed the 205-pound title, but the Ukrainian-born Russian fighter sees a far less flattering blueprint playing out.

“It looks like he wants to move up like Alex Pereira. But I think it may end up the way it did in Adesanya’s case,” Krylov told Red Corner MMA. “Jan Blachowicz beat Israel Adesanya; Dominick Reyes beat Chris Weidman; I’d like to see something similar for Robert as well.”

The comparisons carry weight. Adesanya ventured up to light heavyweight only once, losing his title bid to then-champion Blachowicz in 2021 before returning permanently to middleweight. Weidman’s experience was similarly brief — Reyes stopped his light heavyweight experiment in 2019, and the former champion also retreated to 185 pounds.

Whittaker’s own middleweight story ended without a second title reign. He lost the belt to Adesanya in 2019 and never recovered it across six subsequent years of competition.

Krylov arrives at UFC 329 with his own momentum to protect. He is coming off a stoppage victory over Modestas Bukauskas, a result that halted back-to-back losses to Reyes and Bogdan Guskov. His overall UFC record since debuting in 2018 stands at 6-6, making Saturday’s bout a significant opportunity for both men to stake a claim in a competitive light heavyweight division.