After being wrongly flagged for an anti-doping violation last year, Junior dos Santos was grateful to return to the Octagon on Saturday night.
The former heavyweight champion used his boxing to outstrike promotional newcomer Blagoy Ivanov for five rounds in the UFC Fight Night 133 headliner in Boise, Idaho, to take a clear cut unanimous decision over the ex-World Series of Fighting belt holder. Still, dos Santos’ face wore the damage of a man that went 25 hard minutes.
“Actually, I was expecting a little bit more grappling because he’s from sambo,” dos Santos said on Fox Sports 1.