Alexander Romanov, Blagoy Ivanov Set to Collide at July 1 UFC on ESPN 48 Card

Two of the heftier ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights will slug it out in a month.

MMA Junkie broke the matchup news on Thursday that Alexander Romanov (16-2) and Blagoy Ivanov (19-5) will be meeting on July 1. The heavyweight clash, taking place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, will like serve as part of UFC on ESPN 48’s main card. The fight was confirmed shortly after its announcement by Romanov on Instagram.

Moldova’s Romanov has seen better days of late, as he is currently riding the only losing streak of his career. In August 2022, Romanov threw down with Marcin Tybura, and he dropped a majority verdict. A rebound effort against higher-ranked Alexander Volkov in March did not go his way either, as the Russian punched him out in a little over two minutes. Those losses ended a triumphant opening to his career, where he won 16 fights and never heard the final bell. Along that run, one that included five wins in the UFC, “King Kong” had never needed more than 11:05 to secure a victory.

Ivanov has struggled as of late, having dropped three of list last four, albeit it to tough competition. While he stayed afloat thanks to a decision win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima in 2022, dating back nearly four years, Ivanov was topped by Derrick Lewis, Augusto Sakai and Marcin Tybura. While the heavyweight known as “Baga” posts an overall finish rate of 63%, he has gone the distance in all seven of his UFC outings.

UFC on ESPN 48 will go on at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on July 1, and middleweights Sean Strickland and Abusupiyan Magomedov will square off atop the billing. The fight order is still in the works, although a welterweight bout between Kevin Lee and Rinat Fakhretdinov as well as a lightweight affair pitting Damir Ismagulov against Grant Dawson will likely serve on the main card alongside this newly announced heavyweight tilt.