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Dana White Reveals Doctor’s Involvement in Main Event Withdrawal From Ukrainian MMA Fighter Nikita Krylov; Addresses Immediate UFC Re-Booking Question

Published 02/26/2023, 2:38 AM EST

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via Imago

UFC Vegas 70 suffered a setback after the main event of the night was called off. Ukrainian fighter Nikita Krylov had to opt out of his scheduled fight with Ryan Spann due to a medical issue. Moreover, the UFC president, Dana White, opened up about ‘The Miner’s predicament.

Nikita Krylov (MMA record of 29 wins and 9 losses) is on a 2-fight win streak. He had dispatched UFC veteran Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir in his last two fights. He was riding high on the momentum coming into his fight against Ryan Spann. However, the fight was canceled on short notice.

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Moreover, Ryan Spann is also on a 2-fight win streak. The fight was highly anticipated by the fans. The news of the main event getting canceled was first communicated by UFC Ultimate Insider host, Megan Olivi. However, Dana White made an appearance in the post-fight press conference, talking about Nikita Krylov’s medical condition, among other things.

Dana White explains the reason for canceling Nikita Krylov vs Ryan Spann

The UFC boss gave a detailed explanation of Krylov’s pullout from the fight. Dana White said, “Halfway through the show, we found out that his [Nikita Krylov] stomach, he was having stomach problems.” 

The 53-year-old promoter that Krylov was trying as much as he could to fight in the main event. He said, “He wanted to fight really bad. So doc [doctors] worked with him, tried to get some things taken care of before the fight, didn’t work out.” But Dana White claims that despite all the effort, the fight had to be canceled.

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Moreover, Dana White mentions how this kind of situation is a recurring theme. He said, “Just had to pull him. You know, these things happen.” He also talks about the uncertain nature of Nikita Krylov’s illness and speculated on what the issue could have been. White said, “They don’t know what was wrong with him …some kind of a stomach virus that hit him. Could have been from cutting weight. Who knows what it was?” 

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Dana White mentions that they are considering rescheduling the rematch. He said, “We’re talking to these guys now about ‘Do we do it in two weeks?” Dana added, “What you don’t wanna do is cut weight again next week.”

The UFC president wants Nikita Krylov to get fully fit before they make any announcements for rescheduling the match. There has not been any official word on what exactly the Ukrainian’s medical issue is. However, the UFC will reschedule the fight in the coming weeks.

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Written by:

Himanga Mahanta

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Himanga is a UFC author at EssentiallySports. He interned as a WWE author at Sportsmanor before joining EssentiallySports to pursue his interest as a sports journalist. Himanga is a big fan of UFC's Conor McGregor and considers him the most entertaining combat sports athlete of the 21st century.
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Edited by:

Amal Joyce