Blagoy Ivanov

Blagoy Ivanov (Благой Александров Иванов; born October 9, 1986) is a Bulgarian mixed martial artist and Sambo practitioner who competes in the Heavyweight division.

He competed in the 2003 Balkan Junior Championships and placed first.

He then continued in competition up to the European Championships level but only placed 7th in the 2007 U23 Tournament, and did not make an attempt to represent Bulgaria in the 2008 Olympic games.

Having previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he was also the 2008 Combat Sambo World Champion and the former World Series of Fighting Heavyweight champion.

Blagoy has competed in judo as a heavyweight national representative for Bulgaria.

He notably defeated four-time World Combat Sambo Champion and mixed martial arts fighter Fedor Emelianenko in the semi-finals of the 2008 World Sambo Championships on November 16, 2008.

(He went on to win the finals over Germany's Janosch Stefan the following day.) Ivanov previously faced Emelianenko in February 2008 at Russia's Presidents Cup Sambo competition, losing the match to Emelianenko.

Ivanov started a career in mixed martial arts in his home country (2 wins and 1 NC) before going to World Victory Road, where he signed a three-fight deal.

His first fight took place at Sengoku 9 where he defeated Pride FC veteran, Kazuyuki Fujita by split decision, breaking both hands in the process.

Ivanov was set next to face Fedor's brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, but that fight and eventually the entire event on which the fight should have occurred was canceled because Blagoy had broken both his hands in the fight against Fujita and was not able to heal and prepare properly for his fight with Aleksander.

Recently, in the capital city of Bulgaria - Sofia, Bagata defeated another well-known Bulgarian MMA fighter Svetoslav Zahariev who was European champion in grappling, heavyweight division.

In the interview given after the fight, Bagata said that he was ready for a rematch with Svetoslav, but also with his brother, who is a fighter too.

He added that he needs more easy matches like the last one in order to get in shape for the real challenges.

The 2008 Combat Sambo World Champion Ivanov used superior boxing technique, speed, and accuracy to bloody the face, Jensen, in round one.

Jensen offered little offense, and it bordered on a 10–8 round.

An outside trip takedown from Ivanov started off the second frame, where he immediately began to crank on an Americana attempt.

Jensen gave up full mount attempting to defend.

Eventually, Jensen was able to scramble out, but as he drove forward attempting to push Ivanov against the fence he left his neck exposed.

Ivanov locked in a tight guillotine choke that left Jensen unconscious and unable to tap.

The impressive performance from Ivanov furthers his career-winning streak to eleven.

According to Blagoy, in December 2010 he would go to fight and train in Las Vegas, USA.

On March 15, 2011, Ivanov announced that he had signed a deal to fight for Bellator.

He debuted on March 26, 2011, at Bellator 38 against William Penn and won via first-round TKO.

Ivanov was expected to face Thiago Santos as part of a quarterfinals tournament at Bellator 52 on October 1 at the L'Audberge du Lac Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La.

The tournament was to determine a No. 1 contender to face champion Cole Konrad.

Santos, however, was unable to travel from Brazil for the event and was replaced by Zak Jensen.

Ivanov defeated Jensen by technical submission due to a guillotine choke at 2:35 into round 2.

On 24 Dec 2011, Ivanov defeated Ricco Rodriguez in the third round via TKO with a kick to the upper body that some felt hit Rodriguez's head, as he was still getting up from his knees.

The fight took place in Chekhov, Moscow suburb, and Ivanov fought under the Russian banner.

Ivanov chose to enter into a career in mixed martial arts as opposed to representing Bulgaria in the 2012 Olympic Games.

Ivanov returned to MMA competition after a 21-month absence due to injuries sustained in a bar fight and fought Manny Lara on September 13, 2013 at Bellator 99.

He won the fight via submission in the first round.

Ivanov next fought on November 22, 2013, at Bellator 109 and faced Keith Bell.

Ivanov was initially dropped by Bell early into the fight, but recovered and won the fight via submission.

In March 2014, Ivanov returned to the Heavyweight division.

He faced Rich Hale in the opening round of the Bellator Season 10 Heavyweight tournament at Bellator 111 on March 7, 2014.

He won the fight via unanimous decision.

He faced Lavar Johnson in the semifinals at Bellator 116 on April 11, 2014 and won via submission in the first round.

He faced Alexander Volkov in the tournament final on May 17, 2014 at Bellator 120.

He lost the fight via submission in the second round, resulting in his first professional loss.