Roman Kryklia was born in the city ofKrasnohrad,Kharkiv Oblast in anearly-dissolveUkrainian SSR. At six years old he began training at the sports club "Burovik." His coach at the time was Valentin Nikolaevich Kozhushko. With the club "Burovik", Kryklia began to fight at the Ukrainian Kenpokai Karate and Kickboxing championships, among children and youth, and won a number of medals.
In 2008 in the city of Lutsk, he became the youth champion of Ukraine in kickboxing and received the title of Master of Sports in Kickboxing. In 2008, he began to train in the city of Kharkiv, at the club "Maximus," with coach Maxim Nikolaevich Kiyko and the famous Kharkiv boxing trainer Victor Nikolaevich Demchenko.
During his studies at the Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University, he defended the honor of the University at the Kickboxing Championship of Ukraine among students for four years (2012–2015 years), and he ranked first. He was the silver Thai Boxing champion of Ukraine among amateurs in the city of Odesa (2010).
In October 2012, Kryklia made his professional debut against Tomáš Možný at Nitrianska noc bojovníkov 2012. He won the fight by decision. Kryklia would go on to amass a 4-3 record, winning four of his next seven fights. In January 2015, he participated in the Yangame's Fight Night 2 light heavyweight tournament.[7] He won both the semifinal bout against Jiří Stariat and the final bout against Radovan Kulla by decision.[8]
After his first tournament title win, Krylia won three of his next four fights, including notable victories overIgor Mihaljević[9] andSergej Maslobojev. He then took part in the 2015 Tatneft Cup heavyweight tournament, scoring knockouts of Claudiu Istrate in the semifinals and Daniel Lentie in the finals.[10]
Two months later, Krylia would sign with the biggest kickboxing promotion in Europe to participate in their SUPERKOMBAT Heavyweight Grand Prix. He won a unanimous decision against Ivan Pavle in the semifinals, but lost toTarik Khbabez by decision in the finals.[11]
After losing to Khabez, Kryklia went on a thirteen fight winning streak, which began with decision wins againstKonstantin Gluhov andJahfarr Wilnis. In June 2016, he won the A1 WGP qualification tournament by knocking out Thomas Vanneste in the semifinals, and by forcing Daniel Lentie to withdraw at the end of the first round in the final. In the semifinals of the A1 Grand Prix itself, Kryklia faced Daniel Lentie for the third time in his career, and won for the third time as well, beating Lentie by decision. He won the tournament with a first-round TKO ofArnold Oborotov.[12]
Just two weeks later, Kryklia entered the2016 K-1 Europe heavyweight tournament. Kryklia won the quarterfinals against Bosnian Bahrudin Mahmić, semifinals against Atha Kasapis and finals againstFabio Kwasi in the same manner - knocking all three with a knee strike.[13] For his last fight of 2016, Kryklia was scheduled to fightStéphane Susperregui at Nuit des Champions 2016. He won the fight by majority decision.[14]
During Monte Carlo Fighting Masters, Kryklia foughtFabrice Aurieng for both the Prince Albert's Cup and the Monte Carlo FM heavyweight title. He won the fight by TKO, after Aurieng's corner threw in the towel in the second round.[15]
In December 2017, Kryklia fought in theKunlun Fight heavyweight tournament, held at the KLF 68 event. He won the quarterfinal bout against Ning Tianshuai by a first-round TKO and the semifinal bout againstFelipe Micheletti by unanimous decision. He lost the final fight againstIraj Azizpour by an extra round decision, despite coming into the fight as a favorite.[16]
Kryklia foughtYuksel Ayaydin at MFC 7, in Ayaydin's retirement fight, winning the fight by decision.[17] He afterwards fought Daniel Svkor for the WAKO World heavyweight tile, winning by a second-round knockout.[18]
In the semifinals of the 2018 FEA World Grand Prix, Kryklia was scheduled to fight a rubber match withTomáš Hron, with each fighter holding a win over the other. He won the fight by unanimous decision, and went on to faceTsotne Rogava in the final. The fight with Rogava went into an extra round, after which Kryklia won a decision.[19]
AtKunlun Fight 80, Kryklia once again fought in the KLF heavyweight tournament. He defeated Martin Pacas by unanimous decision in the quarterfinal, and Rade Opacic by a second round TKO in the semifinal, before fighting a rematch withIraj Azizpour in the finals. Kryklia was more successful in their second fight, winning a unanimous decision.[20]
Accordingly, Aygun received a new opponent, while Kryklia was scheduled to fightAndrei Stoica, who took the fight on short notice being announced only a few days before the match,[25] atONE Championship: Collision Course.[26] At the official weigh in, Kryklia weighed more than Stoica.[27] Eventually, the fight was won by Kryklia by unanimous decision, who was in control during the match.[28][29]
Kryklia was scheduled to make his secondONE Kickboxing Light Heavyweight title defense againstMurat Aygün atONE Championship: NextGen on October 29, 2021.[30] However, Aygün was pulled from the fight and Kryklia was instead scheduled to faceIraj Azizpour for the inaugural ONE Kickboxing Heavyweight World Championship.[31] However, due to an undisclosed medical issue, Kryklia withdrew from the fight.
On April 18, 2018, it was announced that Kryklia failed a drug test prior toNuit des Champions 2016, testing positive for two banned substances, includingmeldonium andclenbuterol. He was suspended for 4 years byNational Anti-Doping Agency of France (AFLD) from the participation in all sports events organized or authorized by French sports federations until 7 May 2022. As a result, his majority decision win against Stéphane Susperregui was changed to a no contest.[44]
