5 things to watch out for during UFC Fight Night 133
UFC Fight Night 133 – the UFC's first show to take place in the state of Idaho takes place tomorrow night, and for a Fight Night show it’s a surprisingly deep card, filled with intriguing fights all the way from the Fight Pass prelims to the main event.
While most people will be focused on the return of former Heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos in the main event, there’s a lot more to love about this card, including the returns of 3 former title challengers. Here are five things to watch for at UFN 133.
#1 The debut of Blagoy Ivanov
Very few fighters get to main event a show in their first UFC outing, but Bulgaria’s Sambo expert Blagoy Ivanov will be joining that list when he faces off against former champ Junior dos Santos tomorrow night.
Ivanov is bringing a wealth of experience into his UFC debut, as he was the former WSOF Heavyweight champion and hasn’t lost since a Bellator fight in 2014 with current UFC contender Alexander Volkov.
Ivanov is a naturally bigger man than JDS even if he isn’t quite as chiselled, and with the Brazilian having struggled with grappling-based fighters who can also strike in the past (see his fights against Stipe Miocic and Cain Velasquez) this could well be a good match for the Bulgarian.
It’s not like he has anything to fear, after all he’s a man who in 2012 recovered from being stabbed in the heart, and before that he received press for defeating the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in Combat Sambo.
Right now there seems to be a changing of the guard at Heavyweight, Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem both lost recently to up and comers, JDS could well be the next legend to go down at the hands of a relative newcomer. Watch this space.