Rivalries: Blagoy Ivanov

Blagoy Ivanov’s eventful career and remarkable life, which included a brush with death in a near-fatal stabbing more than a decade ago, now have him positioned as a serviceable heavyweight gatekeeper in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. There are worse ways to make a living.

The 36-year-old Bulgarian will lock horns with Alexander Romanov as part of the UFC on ESPN 48 undercard this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where he seeks to avoid back-to-back defeats for just the second time as a pro. Ivanov has lost three of his past four bouts. He last competed at UFC Fight Night 218, where he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against former M-1 Global champion Marcin Tybura in their three-round encounter on Feb. 4.

As Ivanov closes in on his forthcoming clash with the twice-beaten Romanov, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped chart his course to this point:

Alexander Volkov

The former Bellator MMA champion turned away Ivanov with a second-round rear-naked choke, as their Season 10 heavyweight tournament final helped anchor Bellator 120 on May 17, 2014 at the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Volkov finished it 68 seconds into Round 2. Ivanov executed his gameplan through much of the first five minutes, as he punched his way into clinches and landed clubbing punches off the breaks. However, Volkov seemed to turn the corner towards the end of Round 1, and the previously unbeaten Bulgarian began to fatigue. In the second round, the Russian countered a failed takedown from Ivanov, transitioned to his back and cinched the tournament-clinching choke. It was Volkov’s first submission win in nearly four years.

Smealinho Rama

Ivanov walked into hostile territory and captured the World Series of Fighting heavyweight crown when he dethroned “The Prince” with a standing guillotine choke in the third round of their WSOF 21 co-main event on June 5, 2015 at the Edmonton Expo Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Rama conceded defeat 1:17 into Round 3. Ivanov caught a body kick from the Canadian and countered with a takedown in the first round, opened a gash beneath Rama’s left eye with a clubbing right hand in the second and made his move in the third. There, the 2008 World Sambo Championships gold medalist let his heavy hands go, and they produced the desired results. He dropped Rama to his knees with a clean left hook and grabbed the guillotine when he attempted to return to his feet. With the choke in place, Ivanov cranked and briefly lifted his counterpart off his feet. The tapout was immediate.

Tai Tuivasa

The notoriously resilient Ivanaov was the better man in what amounted to a war of attrition, as he laid claim to a unanimous decision over “Bam Bam” in their three-round UFC 238 heavyweight showcase on June 8, 2019 at the United Center in Chicago. Scores were 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27. Both men elected to throw caution to the wind, but Ivanov landed the cleaner, more telling blows. He decked Tuivasa with a right hand behind the ear in the first round and beat him to the punch for much of the 15-minute bout. Ivanov also mixed in a pair of takedowns and threatened the Australian with standing guillotine chokes along the fence on more than one occasion. Tuivasa had his moments—he staggered the Bulgarian with a left hand in the second round and took a bite out of the inside of his lead leg with repeated kicks in the third—but came up short where it mattered most.

Derrick Lewis

Ferocious bursts of power punches carried “The Black Beast” to a contentious split decision over Ivanov in their featured UFC 244 attraction on Nov. 2, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York. More than 20,000 fans were there to witness, their interest undoubtedly spurred by the Jorge Masvidal-Nate Diaz main event for the BMF title. Judge Eric Colon saw it 29-28 for Ivanov, while Dave Tirelli and Chris Lee struck 29-28 and 30-27 scorecards for Lewis. Ivanov twice executed takedowns and advanced to side mount, only to surrender his advantageous positions with failed bids for keylocks. Lewis also withstood other submission attempts, fought through fatigue and blasted the iron-chinned sambo stylist with straight right hands, uppercuts and the occasional knee. Though he surrendered more than three minutes of control time to Ivanov, the New Orleans native outpaced him 31-20 in terms of significant strikes landed.