After a difficult year of inactivity away from the cage, former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos was simply looking to get back in the win column. On Saturday, he did just that, turning in an impressive performance along the way.
Dos Santos (19-5) relied on his boxing to outlast UFC newcomer Blagoy Ivanov over five rounds to take home a unanimous decision (50-45 on all three scorecards) in the main event of UFC's inaugural visit to Idaho at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.
"Oh my gosh! Long time ago [since I last] fight," Dos Santos said. "I was coming from one year's time and it was [Stipe] Miocic. Now one year again and I have this really tough guy. Thank you Blagoy, you deserve to be in UFC, the greatest organization in the world. I'm doing this kind of performance against a guy with only one defeat in his career so I am glad."
Can't get enough UFC? Subscribe to my podcast In This Corner with Brian Campbell where we break down everything you need to know in the Octagon.
After suffering a knockout loss to then-champion Miocic last May, dos Santos never made a return to the Octagon in 2017 due to a failed drug test ahead of a scheduled bout against Francis Ngannou in September. But dos Santos, 34, was ultimately cleared by USADA of wrongdoing in April when it was ruled he had taken a tainted supplement.
The Brazilian, who hasn't held the UFC heavyweight title since 2012, traded punches throughout against the tough Ivanov (16-2, 1 NC) in a fight that was as physical as it was technical. Ivanov, a native of Bulgaria, suffered cuts on his left eye and hairline, and was twice poked in the eye by dos Santos, who received warnings from referee Herb Dean.
But after falling behind two rounds in, Ivanov came to life in Round 3 following a pep talk from coach Javier Mendes between rounds to make it a rough fight. The southpaw did so by crowding dos Santos and connecting with well-timed counter punches, including a left cross that snapped his head back.
But the 31-year-old Ivanov, a veteran of Bellator MMA and World Series of Fighting, clearly lacked championship stamina in just the second fight in his career to go five rounds. He began to fade late in Round 4 and was out jabbed in the final round as dos Santos avoided any trouble.
"You don't usually throw jabs against southpaw guys because they counter that," dos Santos said. "But I saw he timing and I was able to throw some jabs. I was feeling kind of weird. I always have a saying that timing in the fight is different than training and you have to be training to be on with timing."
Asked what could be next for him, dos Santos said he would "very welcome" a trilogy bout with Miocic, who lost his title to Daniel Cormier at UFC 226. Dos Santos defeated Miocic by five-round decision in their first bout in 2014.
