UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2 - Predictions and Picks

#5 Ovince St. Preux vs. Nikita Krylov

Can Ovince St. Preux pick up another win over Nikita Krylov?

This one is a rematch of a 2014 fight that saw St. Preux finish Krylov pretty early on with his patented Von Flue Choke – a hold that could probably be re-christened the Von Preux given the amount of times ‘OSP’ has used it in the UFC now.

It’s an interesting fight because while OSP remains pretty much the same fighter he was back then – an excellent athlete, solid in all areas but definitely beatable – Krylov has developed his own skills immensely.

Sure, he was beaten relatively easily by Jan Blachowicz when he returned to the UFC last September, demonstrating that his submission defense is still somewhat porous, but he’s a far better striker than he was in 2014 and most notably, he’s a more dangerous grappler when it comes to offense.

In fact, ‘The Miner’ physically looks like a different guy to the one who fought OSP at UFC 171, meaning this could well look like a different fight.

OSP’s issue has always been that despite his great athleticism, he’s just not that dynamic of a fighter. He looks like he ought to be capable of moving much quicker than he actually can, and while he’s a decent striker with some good wrestling, takedowns and ground skills, it always feels like his opponent can hurt him badly at any stage of the fight.

That pretty much led to him being picked apart on the feet by Jimi Manuwa and more recently by Dominick Reyes, and it also led to him being hurt and then choked out by Ilir Latifi last year.

Krylov himself appears to still be somewhat of a glass cannon, which makes this a difficult fight to pick; essentially either man could probably screw up at any time and end up making a mistake leading to them losing the fight.

The smart money has to be on OSP really as he’s more proven against top-level opposition and obviously he beat Krylov before, but ‘The Miner’ could easily catch OSP with something big and put him away too.

I’m going with the safe pick and taking OSP, but with the caveat that Krylov winning would be my preferred outcome as he’d provide a fresher challenge for the upper echelon of the division. I also cannot see this fight going the distance – and I’d be surprised if it went out of the first round to be quite honest.

The Pick: St. Preux via first round submission