UFC books heavyweight clash between Alexandr Romanov and Blagoy Ivanov

Mar 11, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Alexander Volkov (red gloves) fights Alexander Romanov (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Virgin Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The UFC has finalized a matchup between two ranked heavyweight contenders. MMA Junkie first reported yesterday afternoon that 14th ranked Alexandr Romanov (16-2) will be taking on the tough Blagoy Ivanov (19-5).

The matchup goes down at a UFC Fight Night on July 1st. It’s been a little bit of a struggle for Ivanov as of late. When Blagoy Ivanov signed with the promotion, he was 16-1 with his lone loss coming in Bellator against current UFC contender Alexander Volkov.

He was riding a five-fight winning streak and took on former heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos. He lost by decision, but then went on to beat Ben Rothwell and Tai Tuivasa. However, since the Tuivasa win, he’s gone just 1-3 in his last four fights.

The last time we saw him was back in February when he took on Marcin Tybura and lost a decision. While he’s still ranked 15th, he desperately needs a win if he wants to keep his spot secure within the UFC.

UFC Fight Night

Alexandr Romanov looked like a guy who was heading to title contention in the heavyweight division. When the UFC signed him, he was a perfect 11-0. He started out his career inside the octagon with five straight victories and only saw a decision once.

He took on Marcin Tybura back in August and didn’t look very good in that fight. He dominated the opening round and was given a 10-8 on one of the scorecards. However, he was completely gassed and would lose the next two rounds convincingly leading to a majority decision loss.

He returned back in March to take on Alexander Volkov and was stopped in the first round. Another fight where he didn’t look very good at all. Romanov really needs a big performance at this UFC event if he wants to try to regain some of the hype that he once had.