Robert Whittaker has been teasing a move up to light-heavyweight for some time and now it’s official as the former middleweight champion is booked to fight Nikita Krylov at UFC 329 in Las Vegas on July 11th.

The 35-year-old Whittaker has been competing in the UFC for over 13 years now, originally starting out as a welterweight, where he earned his spot in the Octagon by winning The Ultimate Fighter ‘The Smashes’ season in 2012.

Whittaker then moved up to middleweight in 2014 and embarked on a lengthy winning streak that would eventually see him crowned champion after beating Yoel Romero.

Whittaker lost the title via a KO loss to Israel Adesanya in 2019, but has continued to be a prominent figure in the division, though a 6-4 run in recent years hasn’t been enough to get him back to the title.

Now before he hangs up his gloves Whittaker wants to test himself at 205lbs, and his debut in the division will comes against the 34-year-old Krylov.

Krylov has been competing in the UFC for nearly as long as Whittaker and endured his toughest year to date in 2025 when he suffered back-to-back 1st round KO losses against Dominick Reyes and Bogdan Guskov.

However, Krylov managed to get back to winning ways at the start of this year by knocking out Modestas Bukauskas, which marked his 29th stoppage finish from 31 career victories.

Whittaker vs. Krylov joins a blockbuster UFC 329 event that will be headlined by the return of Conor McGregor against Max Holloway, while Paddy Pimblett fights Benoit Saint Denis in the co-main event.