Dos Santos vs Ivanov Preview:

Dos Santos vs Ivanov Preview:

By Ryan Hobbs

This weekend, Junior Dos Santos will be stepping back into the cage for the first time since his loss to Stipe Miocic in May of last year.

Since we last saw JDS, he was forced into battle against MMA’s favorite buzz kill, USADA.
On August 18, 2017, ‘Cigano’ was notified of a potential anti-doping violation. Because of this, a planned bout against Francis Ngannou was cancelled. The test result arguably prevented JDS from being decapitated by Francis, but we have no way of knowing for sure.

One might say that the forced hiatus was in Junior’s best interest. Before the failed drug test he was planning on facing Francis Ngannou a man who many consider to be the heaviest hitter in the heavyweight division just four months after being TKO’d by the reigning champion. He’s had a checkered fighting record over the previous 6 years and has accumulated a ton of damage in the process.

He’s experienced two maulings at the hands of a prime Cain Velasquez, a Rocky 2-esque battle against Stipe Miocic, a TKO loss to Alistair Overeem, and another TKO loss in his rematch against Stipe.

It wasn’t long ago when ‘Cigano‘ was the man destroying all of his opponents. Oh, how the tables have turned. Dos Santos has endured the kind of competitive karma that would make a masochist tattoo their own safe word on their forehead.

Despite the irreparable damage, ‘Cigano’ worked 8 long months to be exonerated by USADA. He never strayed from his goal to get back into active competition, and now he’s ready to fight again.

On July 14th, 2018, Dos Santos is scheduled to face off against former WSOF heavyweight champion Blagoy Ivanov. Ivanov makes his UFC debut having never lost his WSOF belt. In fact, his only professional loss was against current top 5 ranked UFC heavyweight, Alexander Volkov.

This fight is a major opportunity for Ivanov. The card doesn’t have very much buzz, but he’s in a main event against a former heavyweight champion. If he has a dominant victory he suddenly becomes a new player in the UFC heavyweight division.

JDS on the other hand, has his eyes on another shot at UFC gold. Much like the process of refining gold to obtain its purest form, JDS is a fighter willing to walk through fire to become a champion. But the human body has limits. Even the toughest fighters eventually recognize their impermanence.

Many of the heavyweight stars of yesteryear have been able to occupy top 10 ranks in the UFC for the last 4 or 5 years. However, times are changing, Curtis Blaydes recently beat Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt quite decisively, Alexander Volkov TKO’d Fabricio Werdum, and Tai Tuivasa edged out a decision victory over Andrei Arlovski. For the first time in a long time, the UFC heavyweight division looks to be experiencing a changing of the guard.

A loss for JDS would continue to drive the narrative that a new heavyweight division is taking form. But even on the back-end of his career, JDS remains a formidable foe.

Junior Dos Santos once won the UFC heavyweight belt in front of 8.8 million viewers. He holds the record for the most consecutive wins (9) in UFC heavyweight division history. He’s beaten the likes of Stipe Miocic, Gabriel Gonzaga, Shane Carwin, Gilbert Yvel, Fabricio Werdum, Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, Mark Hunt, Roy Nelson, and Mirko Cro Cop. On July 14th, he believes he can beat Blagoy Ivanov.