Roman Kopylov

Overview

Six knockouts in eight UFC wins, and not one submission win. Roman Kopylov is a middleweight who ends fights with his hands, and he's done it often enough to put together a four-fight winning streak at 185 pounds.

He debuted in November 2019 and sits at 8-5 in the UFC (16-5 across all promotions). The losses split two ways: two submissions and three decisions, with no knockout losses. He carries a two-fight win streak into his next fight.

He loses the way a striker with a leaky ground game might. He wins the way a puncher does.

UFC Career

The start was rough. Karl Roberson submitted him in round 3 on his debut, and Albert Duraev took a unanimous decision nearly two years later.

Then came the run. Kopylov knocked out Alessio Di Chirico in round 3 in September 2022, then Punahele Soriano in round 2. Claudio Ribeiro went down in 33 seconds of round 2 at UFC 291, and Josh Fremd followed in round 2 at 4:44. Four fights, four stoppages, none of them in round 1.

Anthony Hernandez ended that streak with a round 2 submission at UFC 298. Kopylov answered with a split decision over Cesar Almeida, then stopped Chris Curtis with one second left in the fight, 4:59 of round 3. Our model rates Curtis a strong opponent.

The next two fights went the other way. Paulo Costa and Gregory Rodrigues both won unanimous decisions, Rodrigues also a strong opponent by our model. A decision over Marco Tulio at UFC 328 got him back in the win column. Then he stopped Ateba Gautier, another strong opponent, in round 1 at 3:12 at UFC 332.

That is his only first-round finish in the UFC. The other five stoppages all came in rounds 2 and 3.

Fighting Style

Kopylov is a busy, accurate striker who lands more than most in the UFC. That output comes with a cost: he absorbs more strikes than most, and his striking defense sits right around the UFC average. He's usually the one who ends the exchange, with six of his eight UFC wins coming by knockout or TKO.

On the ground, he rarely shoots for takedowns and almost never hunts submissions. He is very hard to take down, though.

His finishes tend to come later in fights. Three of his stoppages came in round 2, two in round 3, and one in round 1.

Two of his five UFC losses came by submission, so a strong takedown defense hasn't made him immune on the mat.

Notable Wins

• Ateba Gautier — KO/TKO, round 1, UFC 332 (2026)
• Chris Curtis — KO/TKO, round 3, UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Ribas 2 (2025)
• Josh Fremd — KO/TKO, round 2, UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2 (2023)
• Claudio Ribeiro — KO/TKO, round 2, UFC 291 (2023)

Quick Facts

• Division: Middleweight
• UFC record: 8-5 (6 KO/TKO wins, 2 decision wins)
• Professional record (all promotions): 16-5-0
• UFC debut: November 2019
• Height: 6'0" | Reach: 75"
• Team: Raty Team
• Born: Kemerovo Oblast, Russia