Blagoy Ivanov expects Alexandr Romanov to “give up” at UFC Vegas 76 if he doesn’t get a finish in the first round

Blagoy Ivanov made some changes to his training ahead of UFC Vegas 76.

Ivanov has been a long-time staple at AKA but with most of their heavyweights now retired, he left the gym to get different looks. Training at Drydsale’s jiu-jitsu allowed Ivanov to get different looks at heavyweight which he says will help him in his second fight of 2023 against Alexandr Romanov at UFC Vegas 76.

“I work on the cardio, for the heavyweight division cardio is important. I just switch the gym for this fight, I prepare with different coaches. We will see what the results will be… There are a lot of heavyweights over there so that is why I decided to go over there instead of AKA because there are more sparring partners,” Blagoy Ivanov said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.

Although Ivanov lost his last fight to Marcin Tybura, he says he learned a lot from it and is excited to face someone like Romanov. Blagoy Ivanov knows Alexandr Romanov looked out of shape in his last couple of fights, he knows he still is a dominant wrestler.

“I watch his fights, I watch him before, he is a good wrestler,” Ivanov said. “Against Volkov, he looked like he was out of shape but maybe he is better. He gave up against Volkov.”

Yet, Blagoy Ivanov is confident he will be able to keep the fight standing and after the first round, he expects Alexandr Romanov to give up which could lead to Ivanov getting his first UFC finish at UFC Vegas 76.

“His first round is good and the first round is the most important, how it’s going to go. After the first round he gives up, the first round is very important… I want the finish, but more important is getting my hand raised,” Ivanov added.

If Ivanov does get the stoppage win, he doesn’t care who is next for him but does hope to get one more fight this year.

“I don’t care who is next but if I can get a third fight this year it would be amazing,” Ivanov concluded.