With only a few events left on the calendar for 2025, the first UFC fight of 2026 and the promotion’s Paramount era has reportedly been set.
Following last weekend’s massive UFC 322 event that took place at Madison Square Garden, the UFC will hold its first event in Qatar this Saturday to close out a nine-week stretch of consecutive events before closing out 2025 with a pair of shows in December.
Some fans are already eagerly looking ahead to what next year and the UFC’s new partnership with Paramount may offer, and Damon Martin reports that a light heavyweight bout between Nikita Krylov and Modestas Bukauskas is reportedly in the works for an event on January 24.
Fan Favorite Nikita Krylov Looks To End Losing Skid
Currently the UFC’s #13-ranked light heavyweight contender, Krylov went 6-3 during his initial run with the UFC from 2013-2016.
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“The Miner” returned to Europe following a loss to Misha Cirkunov and stopped four-straight opponents, including former Bellator champion Emanuel Newton and UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado. The win over Maldonado saw Krylov capture the Fight Nights Global light heavyweight belt before returning to the UFC, where he alternated wins and losses across his first four fights back with the promotion.
Nikita Krylov (red gloves) reacts to defeating Ryan Spann (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Virgin Hotel. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The 33-year-old rebounded from back-to-back losses with three-straight victories from 2022-2023, but he currently finds himself on another two-fight skid after being knocked out by Dominick Reyes and Bogdan Guskov in both of his outings in 2025.
Modestas Bukauskas Ready To Break Into UFC Rankings
Krylov will look to snap his losing run and defend his light heavyweight ranking against Bukauskas, who is also on his second stint with the UFC after he initially went 1-3 in the Octagon following a win in his debut in 2020.
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A return to Cage Warriors in 2022 saw Bukauskas defeat Lee Chadwick and win the promotion’s light heavyweight belt by stopping Chuck Campbell. The 31-year-old took decisions over Tyson Pedro and Zac Pauga upon returning to the UFC the following year before he was knocked out by Vitor Petrino, but Bukauskas is now on a four-fight win streak that includes three finishes and most recently sent Paul Craig into retirement in September.
Modestas Bukauskas (red gloves) fights Ion Cutelaba (blue gloves) during UFC 315 at Bell Centre. | Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Their respective styles mean that the Bukauskas vs. Krylov matchup looks bound to produce a finish, and fans should be on the lookout for further fight announcements for what is expected to be UFC 324 after the UFC requested an event permit at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena for January 24.
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