The UFC’s July 1, 2023 Apex event has seen a pair of hard-hitting heavyweights added to its fight card.
Blagoy Ivanov (19-5, 1NC) will face Alexandr Romanov (16-2) at the event, in a match-up first reported by MMA Junkie.
Romanov confirmed the booking on his Instagram story on Thursday.
Moldova’s Romanov will be looking to snap a two-fight skid come July, having dropped his last two fights against Marcin Tybura and Alexander Volkov. Those setbacks represent the first two losses of Romanov’s career, after amassing a 16-0 run to start his fighting journey.
Romanov is currently ranked #14 in the division, with Ivanov one spot behind him in the #15 position. A former Bellator MMA heavyweight tournament finalist, Ivanov would go on to win heavyweight gold in the World Series of Fighting, later holding that same title when the promotion became the PFL.
Bulgaria’s Ivanov joined the UFC in 2018, losing his debut against Junior Dos Santos. He’s 3-4 inside the octagon to date, and coming off a loss of his own against Tybura.
The UFC’s July 1, 2023 Fight Night card currently features the following reported match-ups:
- Sean Strickland vs. Abusupiyan Magomedov
- Ariane Lipski vs. Melissa Gatto
- Joanderson Brito vs. Khusein Askhabov
- Ismael Bonfim vs. Benoît Saint-Denis
- Jordan Leavitt vs. Elves Brenner
- Ivana Petrovic vs. Luana Carolina
- Max Griffin vs. Michael Morales
- Grant Dawson vs. Damir Ismagulov
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Brunno Ferreira
- Kevin Lee vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
- Alexandr Romanov vs. Blagoy Ivanov
