The Reyes renaissance has been a nice story over the last year, but
the former light heavyweight title challenger’s comeback gets its
first big test here. Reyes looked like the next coming man at 205
pounds once he made his UFC debut in 2017 and quickly started
racking up wins. A standout athlete with finishing ability on both
the feet and the mat, Reyes showed a combination of potency and
consistency that had many picking “The Devastator” to be the man to
unseat Jon
Jones when the two met in 2020. In fact, consensus seems to be
that Reyes beat Jones in what wound up as a close fight. However,
that consensus didn’t include the judges, so Jones walked away with
the belt. Once Jones vacated the light heavyweight title, the
thought was that Reyes would establish himself as champion in the
aftermath. Instead, he wound up getting picked apart by Jan
Blachowicz in a fight for the vacant belt, as he was knocked
out for the first time in his career. UFC matchmakers didn’t do
Reyes much of a favor in his next fight, as he wound up getting
knocked out once again by Jiri
Prochazka despite some solid moments. That seemed to at least
temporarily shatter Reyes’ confidence. Reyes looked terrible in his
next fight, a quick knockout loss to Ryan Spann to
cap off 2022, and from there, he was essentially written off. It
made his 2024 comeback a pleasant surprise. Each of Reyes’ two wins
on the year came with a bit of an asterisk. His knockout of
Dustin
Jacoby was a fairly even brawl that Reyes might have been lucky
to win, and his defeat of Anthony
Smith seemed primarily due to the latter’s own mental struggles
in that fight. Wins are wins, though, and with a lack of confidence
seeming like Reyes’ main issue, some sustained success should lead
to his recapturing some of his old form. Unfortunately, Krylov
doesn’t seem like the best matchup, even if “The Miner” has become
a bit of a forgotten man after two years out of action.
Krylov seemed set to be somewhere between footnote and running joke
after his UFC debut in 2013. Then a heavyweight prospect, Krylov
ran up a regional record against a level of competition that was
weak even by 2025 prospect standards, then lost a horrible fight
against Soa Palelei
that basically ended due to mutual exhaustion. Krylov somehow
turned out to be a solid prospect, particularly when he cut down to
light heavyweight. He’s still generally an overaggressive mess, but
he seems to be impossible to knock out and can outlast most
opposition as long as he’s not diving into a submission. Reyes has
rediscovered his comfort countering his opponent, so there’s a
chance he can pick Krylov apart, but with a knockout seemingly
unlikely, it seems like a fairly safe bet that the Ukrainian can
find a moment to blow this fight open through sheer doggedness. The
pick is Krylov via first-round stoppage.
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