Nikita Krylov just earned his $25,000 finish bonus in epic fashion, pulling off a buzzer-beater finish of Modestas Bukauskas at UFC 324.
After three straight first-round finishes to open up the night, Krylov vs. Bukauskas’ pacing seemed to bring things down. While Krylov landed well, the fight had more of a grappling focus, with Krylov looking to keep Bukauskas pinned against the fence during the first and second rounds.
In the closing seconds of the round, Krylov, after getting it going, landed a cracking right hand that put Bukauskas down. Krylov got on top, on Bukauskas’ back, and landed some follow-up shots to score the finish with three seconds left in the fight.
Nikita Krylov Cracks, Downs Modestas Bukauskas At UFC 324
NO SCORECARDS NEEDED TONIGHT 🤯
Nikita Krylov gets the KO in the final seconds to keep the finish streak going!
Paul Craig has called it a career after getting stopped by Modestas Bukauskas at UFC Paris.
Bukauskas looked to target the legs early and tried to use the clinch to his advantage. Craig attempted to bring the fight to his world, the mat, but Bukauskas kept control and looked to position himself for some strong ground-and-pound.
Bukauskas got that in the closing seconds of the first round, which included a final elbow right before the horn. However, Craig was unable to stand up after the horn and appeared to be out cold, leading to a stoppage at the end of the first round.
Following the fight, Craig laid his gloves down in the Octagon, confirming his retirement from MMA.
Modestas Bukauskas Retires Paul Craig With Buzzer-Beater First-Round KO
Paul Craig is an ultimate achiever. He was considering retirement during his first UFC deal and he’s still here 9 years later.
He’s given us magic moments, had some massive wins and most importantly, he was always a credit to the people he represented.
Bukauskas has now won four straight and eight wins in his last nine fights.
Craig’s MMA career ends with a five-fight winless record (0-4-1). Craig made his UFC debut in December 2016 as an 8-0 fighter. He’d start his UFC tenure 3-4, though he’d pick up performance bonuses in those wins. He’d then go 5-0-1 between September 2019 and March 2022.
The only way to make a fight with a disappointing amount of activity worse is with baffling judges’ scorecards. And it appears that’s what we got with the judges’ totals in the victory Modestas Bukauskas got over Ion Cutelaba during the preliminary card of UFC 315.
Cutelaba took control of the fight early with heavy calf kicks, targeting the lead leg of Bukauskas. Though Bukauskas had his moments, Cutelaba controlled the action by delivering more pressure and striking. Cutelaba continued this in round two with several flurries and clinch work, even if some attacks caused him to lose balance. Bukauskas responded with some counters, but his activity came into question.
Bukauskas had better moments in the third round, stuffing takedowns and landing the more effective shots, as Cutelaba seemed to tire. Bukauskas in particular found success with the right hand.
Bafflingly, one judge each gave the fight to each fighter with 30-27 scores. Even more baffling, the third judge gave the nod to Bukauskas despite the lack of activity.
Modestas Bukauskas Bests Ion Cutelaba In Fight With Split 30-27 Scores At UFC 315
Yoooo whaaaat was that decision?! Cutelaba with the WORST robbery in UFC history #UFC315
No idea how you score that fight for Bukauskas. And a 30-27?? What in the FUCK is a Pasquale Procopio? Get him out of the sport, man. Cutelaba robbed.#UFC315
— Steph Boyarthree (@StephBoyarthree) May 11, 2025
Ion Cutelaba just got robbed in broad daylight, wow.
Very close fight between Cutelaba vs Bukauskas there, by the comentary you would think that Cutelaba won 3-0 but I could see a world where this is 29-28 Modestas #UFC315
Among the notable names set to compete on the preliminary card is Modestas Bukauskas, a Lithuanian-British light heavyweight who has won five of his last six contests inside the cage.
Since returning to the UFC off the back of a stint in Cage Warriors, “The Baltic Gladiator” has gone 3-1, with the sole loss on that run coming by way of knockout to Vitor Petrino.
After bouncing back in 2024 with an impressive submission victory over Marcin Prachnio on home soil, Bukauskas will look to make it back-to-back triumphs when he meets Raffael Cerqueira at UFC Seattle on Feb. 22.
And Aspinall, for one, seems fully confident in his teammate.
The heavyweight star re-shared promotional material posted by the UFC Europe account to his Instagram Stories, providing some insight into his fellow countryman’s preparation for the upcoming event.
“This guy has looked unstoppable in the gym. Tune in this Saturday”
With that said, Aspinall will no doubt have a close eye on proceedings when Bukauskas makes the walk at UFC Seattle inside Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena.
While “The Baltic Gladiator” is days away from his next outing, Aspinall remains without a date in the calendar. He’s continued to push for a unification showdown with heavyweight champ Jon Jones, but the UFC is yet to confirm whether that will go ahead in 2025.
When Jon Jones made the decision to vacate the UFC light heavyweight title in order to take some time off before coming back at heavyweight, his former division was left in a strange place.
The title seemed to change hands constantly without a real dominant presence at the top, until Alex Pereira made the move up from middleweight.
Having conquered the 185-pound division before losing the title in a rematch with Israel Adesanya, he went on to do the same at 205.
Modestas Bukauskas Says Jon Jones Is Undeniable Despite Alex Pereira’s Achievements
In a recent interview with InsideFighting, UFC light heavyweight Modestas Bukauskas gave his thoughts on whether Pereira has done enough to overshadow Jones on the pound-for-pound list.
There has been a debate over the past several months about whether Jones or the lightweight champion Islam Makhachev should be considered the best on the planet, but after Pereira put on another dominant display at UFC 303, he has entered the conversation.
Bukauskas, who returns at UFC 304 against Marcin Prachnio, cites Pereira as a big inspiration and has briefly trained with Jones much earlier in his career.
He believes that despite his admiration for the impact that “Poatan” has had, the record books alone show why “Bones” is considered by many to be the greatest to ever do it.
“I mean if you’re talking about who’s probably the greatest of all time and what they’ve done in the sport, how could Jon Jones not be at the top of that list? Alex Pereira has obviously done a hell of a lot considering like in a short space of time but you know, Jon Jones has literally had about like 10 or 11 title defenses or something like that. When you’re defending the belt like that many times and now moved up to heavyweight and stuff like this, I mean you can’t really deny that. Although, what Alex has done has been amazing but I’d still put Jon Jones at the top of that list.”
