UFC 329 video: Robert Whittaker potentially breaks Nikita Krylov’s jaw in light heavyweight debut

Robert Whittaker snapped off a fight finishing right hand that may have broken Nikita Krylov’s jaw

Robert Whittaker made a successful light heavyweight debut and he might go home with Nikita Krylov’s jaw as a reward after his knockout win at UFC 329.

Despite giving up a lot of size, Whittaker’s speed was undeniable and his power translated as he hurt Krylov several times during the fight. The end came after Whittaker clipped Krylov wih a stiff right hand and then followed with another huge shot behind it.

Krylov immediately grabbed at his jaw like something was broken and waved off the fight as the referee stepped in to stop if at 1:01 in the third round.

“Feast your eyes on that Reddit!” Whittaker joked after his win. “Honestly, there was a lot of nerves and we’ve seen guys move up and slide down … but we’ve still got it. I trained for the entire camp with the idea that my opponent is going to be the boogeyman.

“I came in nice and heavy and I hit as hard as anybody else. This is my home now. The middleweight page is closed.”

While Krylov looked massive, Whittaker showed off his speed immediately with several lightning quick punches that found a home in the opening round. That led to Krylov closing the distance and looking for the takedown while working against the cage.

Krylov was effectively muscling Whittaker across the octagon while applying his grappling but the former middleweight champion finally escaped and connected with a punch on his way out. Whittaker followed that with a slick right hand that clipped Krylov before connecting with another hard right hook.

On the restart in the second round, Whittaker came out quick and continued to use fast hands to catch Krylov off guard. A combination followed as Whittaker snapped off several shots in a row that stung Krylov, although the Russian absorbed the damage well.

With two minutes remaining, Whittaker unleashed another blistering combination that hurt Krylov, although he didn’t go wild looking for the finish.

Whittaker snapped off another hard right hand that rattled Krylov and the writing was on the wall that the fight was nearly finished. Another devastating right followed and Krylov backed away as he grabbed onto his jaw with the referee stepping in to stop the fight before any further damage was dished out.

Light heavyweight is far from the deepest division in the sport and Whittaker might already be one of the more dangerous fighters at 205 pounds, especially after such an impressive debut on Saturday at UFC 329.