Nikita Krylov Explains Why He Left The UFC
Nikita Krylov is a former UFC fighter who left the promotion earlier this year and has now signed with the Fight Nights Global promotion out of Russia.
The fighter was a top 15 ranked light heavyweight at the time of his UFC departure, holding a record of 6-3-0 in the promotion (21-5-0 overall).
Krylov has now taken to a lengthy post on Instagram to explain just why he has exited the UFC:
Here is the Russian to English translation of what the fighter wrote, provided by Google Translate:
Once again, the answer to the most popular question is "Why did you go to Fight Nights from the UFC?" I understand that everyone who asks it would be interesting to see how I will fight with Manuva or Gustafsson, I myself would be interested in fighting with them, but not right now. Why? Because I'm 25 years old, of which 20 I did not practice as a professional MMA fighter. Because it is not the greatest pleasure to fly to the fights for 10,000 km from his one-year-old son. It's a little harder than writing "why do you fight at Fight Nights." Because neither Daniel Cormier nor John Jones have relatives living in the city, which was recently reported on the news with military reports. Because when I told the UFC management my conditions, I was just fired, and when I told them to the leadership of Fight Nights, Kamil Hajiyev was sitting opposite me and we were talking. Because the sponsorship relationship with Reebok is not the same as the relationship with the Northern Landing Party and VP Lab.
Because for the fight with Tsirkunov, taking into account taxes, I received half the amount less than for the fight with Bekavach. Because it's no easier to beat Fabio Maldonado or Emanuel Newton than Barroso and Herman. Because I want to learn in training, not in battles with Ovins St. Prue. It's not very pleasant to understand already during the battle, that you just do not have enough base. Because when you rest your head on the ceiling, you do not need to pierce your head, you have to go down from the stool and go look for the stairs to the next floor. To everyone who understands this, thanks for the support, I always appreciate it. Consider that this is such a stage of a career when I am gaining experience and laying the foundation. Fight Nights are determined to offer me interesting rivals and for this, too, thank you. I hope that we have closed this topic.
Since exiting the UFC, the light heavyweight has only competed once in his new home, defeating Stjepan Bekavac by submission at Fight Nights Global 68.