UFC Fight Night 45 Date: July 16, 2014 Arena: Revel Casino Hotel City: Atlantic City, NJ Light Heavyweight bout: Nikita Krylov (-110) vs Cody Donovan (+100) Fight Breakdown: The UFC Fight Night 46 preliminary card preliminary card will be featuring a light heavyweight contest between Ukrainian Nikita Krylov and Cody Donovan. The betting odds for this bout are currently at a near coin-flip, with Krylov being-110 ($110 to win $100) and Donovan being +100 ($100 to win $100) at Several Bookmakerss. Nikita “Al Capone” Krylov (16-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is coming off a first round submission loss to Ovince St. Preux at UFC 171 four months ago and will be looking to bounce back into the win column in his second outing at 205-pounds. The Ukrainian is a talented submission artist and his resume reflects that sentiment, as 10 of his 16 professional mixed martial arts career victories have come by way of tapout. While he has a solid offensive submission game, his defensive grappling could use a lot of work. His submission defense certainly is not poor, but it clearly is not great, and his takedown defense is near-atrocious. However, he does have an active guard and threatens with submissions off his back, so opponents are never fully safe in his guard. The 22-year old has a solid kicking game and he likes to push forward. He has decent takedowns and good top control, not to mention excellent transitions. Krylov is known mainly for his submission game, but he began his martial arts career with Karate and was initially a pure striker. After learning all the different aspects of mixed martial arts and developing a solid all-around game, including his aforementioned submission game, he went on a tear on the European regional circuit and made enough noise to earn himself a call from Joe Silva. However, his promotional debut proved he perhaps is not UFC-caliber, mainly because of his terrible cardio. His conditioning is not good, but he does possess an excellent chin, as he was able to take ground-and-pound punches from Soa Palelei that have knocked out Pat Barry and Ruan Potts. He has only made it out of the first round once in his 20–fight career, and that came in a losing effort against Palelei, so while Donovan doesn’t have the best cardio, I think he will have an advantage in that department against Krylov. “Donnybrook” Cody Donovan (8-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is coming off a second round knockout loss at the hands of Long Islander Gian Villante at UFC 167 eight months ago, which made it back-to-back losses via knockout for the Colorado resident. In fact, all four of his professional mixed martial arts career losses have come by way of knockout, but that said, his chin is not atrocious and he does have pretty good recovery. He was beating Villante in the first round of their bout, but Villante countered beautifully as Donovan was going for a headkick, and that dropped him to the mat, where Villante followed up with strikes for the finish. Donovan has his back against the wall heading into this one, as a loss would make it three straight and likely earn him a pink slip from the promotion. “Donnybrook” has a good clinch game up against the cage, a place he loves to use his knees, as well as mix in elbows. His striking is okay; he is not very technical but he packs a lot of power behind all his strikes. He has some nice and heavy leg kicks and he likes to go for the headkick, which he nearly finished Villante with in the first round of their battle. Donovan is an aggressive fighter who possesses a nice straight right, as well as a nice overhand right. He has a solid lead jab and good uppercuts, especially his lead in uppercut. He puts some effective 1-2 combinations on the feet, including a right-uppercut, left-hook combination he often goes for. The Iowa native owns a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and has a pretty good submission game, owning three of his eight victories by way of tapout. He works decent takedowns, and has a very good guard, from which he is dangerous and constantly threatens with submissions. Even though he trains in high altitude in Colorado, his conditioning is not great, but he will likely have an advantage in that department heading into this bout against Krylov. Gabe’s Thoughts: Simply put, I think Donovan is going to outwork the Ukrainian and eventually stop him with something. If it hits the judges’ scorecards, I also favor him to pick up the nod there. Gabe’s Call: “Donnybrook” by Submission (d’arce choke, 2:21 round 1) Gabe’s Recommended Play: Donovan (+100) 4u to win 4u
