White calls Palelei vs. Krylov 'embarrassing,' blasts 'sloppy' UFC 164 bout

MILWAUKEE – While UFC 164 proved to be a highly entertaining pay-per-view event, there was one matchup that didn’t exactly deliver in terms of high-level action.

“You don’t want to hear my thoughts on that fight,” UFC President Dana White said following Saturday’s event at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center. “That fight was embarrassing.”

The contest in question was a heavyweight bout on the night’s preliminary card that featured Australian veteran Soa “The Hulk” Palelei (19-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) against Ukrainian prospect Nikita “Al Capone” Krylov (15-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

The contest started in entertaining fashion as Krylov focused on a grappling-based gameplan and Palelei looked to land big bombs. The action was back-and-forth in the opening five minutes, and while it wasn’t the most technical affair, the efforts of both men kept the crowd’s attention.

That changed as the fight wore on.

With both men visibly tiring over the final two rounds, there were long periods of inactivity as the fighters gasped for air, and what little precision had been evident in the first round completely disappeared.

“The fight was sloppy,” White admitted. “They both looked sloppy. They’re exhausted, and they’re both laying on each other and stuff. You shouldn’t see that s–t in the UFC.

“This is the UFC. You shouldn’t see that. Guys should be in shape. But again, it was an entertaining fight. It ended with a knockout. Guy took big shots. It was just an embarrassing fight. You shouldn’t see a sloppy fight like that in the UFC.”

Palelei did eventually finish the fight in the third round as Krylov essentially just gave up, willingly going to the floor and failing to respond as his opponent pounded away with short, exhausted punches. Eventually, referee Al Wichgers stepped in at the 1:34 mark of the final frame to declare Palelei the winner.

White said he was disappointed with the effort of both men but doesn’t know what exactly to blame for what transpired.

“We’ve seen the UFC jitters – adrenaline dumps,” White said. “I mean a lot of things happen when you get to the big show. I don’t know what happened to those two.

“Was it an entertaining fight? Yeah, it was an entertaining fight, but it was sloppy, and it looked like Toughman to me. They’re just not at this level.”

Palelei was actually returning to the UFC following a 2007 octagon appearance that saw him lose to Eddie Sanchez. While it wasn’t his best effort, the result did push his current winning streak to nine fights.

Meanwhile, Krylov is just 21 years old and has time to bounce back from what certainly wasn’t his finest hour. Whether or not either fighters gets another immediate fight in the UFC remains to be seen, but White made no attempt to hide his disappointment in their work.

“It was embarrassing,” White said. “What do you think would happen to either one of those guys in the heavyweight division?”

For complete coverage of UFC 164, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Nikita Krylov and Soa Palelei)