Age and pro experience
The 32-year-old Ivanov is six years older than Tuivasa, who made his pro mixed martial arts debut on Aug. 31, 2012. That time, Ivanov was recovering from a near-death experience following a barroom brawl. Tuivasa, meanwhile, went 5-0 fighting in his native of Australia before getting signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. During that stretch, he won and defended the Australian Fighting Championship heavyweight title once. He is currently 3-1 in the UFC, with his lone defeat coming at the hands of former champion Junior dos Santos.Ivanov made his pro debut on Oct. 13, 2007. After a few fights in regional promotions, he was signed by Bellator where he went 6-1 and reached the finals of its heavyweight tournament. He also fought for the WSOF/Professional Fighters League where he became the heavyweight champion. Before going to the UFC where he now has a record of 1-1, he finished his WSOF/PFL stint with a 5-0 record.
Common opponent: Junior dos Santos
Having successfully defended the WSOF/PFL heavyweight title four times, Ivanov was given a tough task on his UFC debut and a headliner at that. He and dos Santos engaged in a five-round boxing match, with the former UFC heavyweight king outpointing him. When the dust settled, all three judges saw it for dos Santos 50-45. Record from Fightmetric shows the Brazilian vastly outpointed him 110-51.Tuivasa and dos Santos’ match was also a main event. In the first round of their UFC Fight Night 142 match, Tuivasa landed some vicious low kicks as well as elbows that hurt dos Santos. But when “Cigano” found his groove in the second round, it was only a matter of time until he dropped Tuivasa and landed the fight-finishing blows. The end came at 2:30 of round two.