“I wish I had capitalized on the victory over Jamahal Hill, but this is what the leaves dealt me,” Craig said, adding that he was planning to make his return in September on a card that went from being a UFC London takeover to a British invasion of the UFC APEX.
“I was gutted not to fight in the UK, but also just gutted to not fight,” Craig said of his scheduled matchup against former UFC light heavyweight title challenger and Hall of Famer Alexander Gustafsson.
“This is a guy I’ve looked up to from when I first started watching MMA. This is a guy who I’ve trained with, and I’ve seen how devastating he is in his camps. This is a guy I wanted to beat because he was a title contender, he was the face of UFC Europe, and to share the Octagon with him was another dream come true.
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Unfortunately, life gets in the way and we’re now a year down the line and I’ve got a fight against Krylov. You’ve just got to beat who’s in front of you to get to that next level.”
And while we’re nearly a year down the road, it seems to be under the circumstances of a fairly digestible tradeoff: now fighting inside a sold out O2 Arena in London against a formidable Nikita Krylov.
“I’m glad we’re back in the UK, home soil, and the last time we were here was one of my most amazing victories I’m ever going to achieve in this sport, so I’ve good vibes for this one,” Craig said, alluding to his literal last-second submission over Magomed Ankalaev the last time the Octagon was brought to London.