5 Top Fighters Signed By The UFC In 2018

#4 Blagoy Ivanov

Blagoy Ivanov gave former Heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos a tough fight

Highly-ranked Heavyweight fighters outside the UFC are few and far between these days, and so it was a nice surprise in April when the signing of Blagoy Ivanov – a former WSOF champion with just one loss to his name, against current UFC contender Alexander Volkov – was announced. A former world Sambo champion who defeated the legendary Fedor Emelianenko in that sport in 2008, Ivanov was faced with a tough test for his UFC debut – former Heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos.

Ivanov ended up losing the fight with ‘Cigano’ by unanimous decision, but for the most part, he acquitted himself well against the former champ. Admittedly, the fight wasn’t a barnburner as fans would’ve liked, but Ivanov still fought hard and took two rounds from the Brazilian, stunning him with punches on a handful of occasions for good measure.

Now waiting on his second UFC assignment, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Ivanov could still develop into a genuine contender at Heavyweight. At just 31 years old he’s still relatively young for a big man and is probably just entering into his prime years. And with the likes of Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt still kicking around, it’s impossible to deny that Heavyweight is an ageing division – meaning the Bulgarian could yet make a major impact in the UFC’s rankings. That alone ranks him as one of 2018’s most interesting signings.