As Blagoy Ivanov readies to face Derrick Lewis on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, the 33-year-old heavyweight can’t help but swell with pride thinking about where he’s at and everything he’s gone through.
“Fighting at MSG and representing my country is very big for me,” said the Bulgarian heavyweight, who enters this weekend’s main card pairing on a two-fight winning streak. “I feel very proud.”
A cursory glance at his record would make it seem obvious that Ivanov would reach this point, as he sports an 18-2, 1 NC record with victories over familiar names like Ricco Rodriguez, Lavar Johnson, and Shawn Jordan before posting back-to-back wins over Ben Rothwell and Tai Tuivasa in his last two trips into the Octagon.