Johnny Walker vs Nikita Krylov Prediction & Betting Tips | UFC Fight Night 170 - bettingexpert
Johnny Walker vs Nikita Krylov Prediction & Betting Tips | UFC Fight Night 170
Johnny Walker looks to redeem himself from his last fight against Ukrainian contender Nikita Krylov. This fight is on the undercard of UFC Fight Night 170: Lee vs Oliveira which takes place on March 14th. Is Johnny Walker just a hype train?
Johnny Walker
Johnny Walker is looking to get back on the winning streak since suffering a first-round TKO loss to Corey Anderson late last year. Walker’s latest loss has divided fans while posing the question of whether or not he’s a so-called hype train. Walker is 17-4 in his professional career with three losses coming outside of the UFC. Looking at his career inside the promotion, he has 3 wins and 1 loss and has finished all of his wins by knockout in the first round resulting in his average fight time of 56 seconds.
Walker is a very unorthodox striker and fires nasty elbows from the clinch as well as incredible flying knees from distance, to knock his opponents out.
Walker is huge for a 205-pounder and stands three inches taller (8 cm) than his opponent. He also holds a 5-inch reach advantage (13 cm) – he is the much, much bigger man. Walker lands 5.17 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 4.02. His striking defense is at 33% and he has a striking accuracy of 69%.
Nikita Krylov
Nikita Krylov is 7-5 in the UFC. Most recently he lost a narrow split decision to Glover Teixeira in September of last year. His latest win inside the UFC came against Ovince St. Preux where he managed to get a rear-naked choke submission win. Krylov is a great striker and submission artist with 11 (42%) of his wins coming by knockout and 15 (58%) coming by submissions. Krylov has a decent output and doesn’t get hit too much. “The Miner” is also great at switching up his strikes, landing on the body and the legs.
Krylov is going to come out trying to get a takedown and will leave himself open for the knockout.
The Miner has a significant strike average of 4.86 per minute and absorbs 2.45. He has a striking defense of 44% and an accuracy of 57%. Furthermore, and perhaps most important, is his takedown accuracy of 38%. Krylov managed to get 41-year old Glover Teixeira down in two out of four attempts when they fought. If he wants to win this fight against powerhouse Johnny Walker, he has to get the fight to the ground – but can he do that? Good question…
Who wins?
Johnny Walker hasn’t faced a well rounded UFC fighter with an experience like Krylov and, we’ve never seen Walker stop a takedown or how he fares on his back, in the UFC. However, he is coming off a tough loss to Corey Anderson and he’s looking to make a big statement in this fight. Walker’s level of commitment and momentum will be the deciding factor in this fight.
Currently, Walker is favored with bookmakers at around 1.72 while Krylov is the underdog at around 2.10 – pretty decent value for Walker, considering he holds the size and striking advantages. The thing is, if Krylov can’t get this fight to the ground, there’s really not much chance for him. Of course, Walker was finished by a wrestler in Corey Anderson in his last fight, but Walker has been humbled and is hopefully more focused in this fight. Krylov has landed five takedowns in his 13-fight UFC career – not very impressive. However, Kylov also has pretty good striking and kicks (he knocked out heavyweight Walt Harris with a kick when they fought). Krylov has only been finished via strikes once in his career and he has a sturdy chin. Walker’s chin, on the other hand, is questionable. He has been knocked out twice and submitted once in his career outside of the UFC.
Is Johnny Walker a hype-train? Yes – but he is still good enough to beat Krylov.
Odds for these two recently changed, and now we’re backing Walker. Odds for Walker are 1.72 at the moment which is really good value. 2.10 for Krylov simply isn’t high enough.
Prediction: Johnny Walker def. Nikita Krylov via first-round knockout.
