Nikita Krylov expects to have a Russian flag next to his name when he walks to the octagon for his fight against Dominick Reyes at UFC 314.
The light heavyweight contender returns to action for the first time in over two years when he competes on Saturday but a flag was conspicuously missing from his profile when he last appeared in 2023. Krylov addressed the situation during UFC 314 media day on Wednesday and he explained why there was so much confusion about his home nation for his previous fight.
“Yes, we spoke about it with the UFC, even two events before I was asking about putting Kislovodsk, Russia as the place that I’m fighting out of,” Krylov said. “I’ve been living there for a few years now and I think that I now have the honor of representing them.”
While he previously lived in the Ukraine, Krylov fought out of Donetsk, which is a region that Russian forces took over during an ongoing conflict that started back in 2022. Russian president Vladimir Putin actually signed a decree claiming to annex four different regions, which included Donetsk, but the battle over that region continues raging on.
Krylov believes that’s what led to so much confusion when he last fought in the UFC but he’s now living and residing solely in Russia and that’s the country he plans to represent on Saturday.
“The reason why a few events back there was no flag next to my name is obviously most of my life, I lived in Donetsk [in the Ukraine],” Krylov said. “Donetsk is a city that’s still kind of being [in dispute], not everybody thinks where Donetsk belongs.
“At the moment I think now it’s good for me to have Russia next to my name. I’m proud to represent Russia.”
Despite his absence, Krylov returns to the UFC on a three-fight win streak with a chance to jump right back into the deep end of the light heavyweight division with his matchup against a former two-time title challenger in Reyes.
A win could put Krylov near a potential title shot of his own with the fight against Reyes kicking off the pay-per-view main card on Saturday.
