Preview: UFC on ESPN 48 Prelims

Heavyweights

#14 HW | Alexander Romanov (16-2, 5-2 UFC) vs. #15 HW | Blagoy Ivanov (19-5, 3-4 UFC)

ODDS: Romanov (-135), Ivanov (+115)

This would be a really good time for Romanov to turn things around. Romanov looked like a prospect to watch upon signing with the UFC. He may have been facing a poor level of competition, but he showed a ton of potential as a massive man with some shocking agility and an ability to absolutely run over his opponents. Indeed, Romanov spent the better part of his first five UFC fights throwing around his opponents at will, even if his 2021 win over Juan Espino did show what were now clearly some warning signs. The Moldovan had some surprisingly reliable cardio in the past but looked absolutely gassed once he was done fighting Espino—one of the few capable wrestlers “King Kong” had faced up to that point. Romanov suffered his first loss to Marcin Tybura in August, charging out to a dominant start before tiring badly by the second round. The hope was that Romanov would learn from the experience or, given that the fight took place at elevation in Salt Lake City, he would return to better form back at sea level. Instead, he had the worst performance of his career against Alexander Volkov in March, looking in poor form even before he quickly crumpled after a few failed takedowns. The potential is still there for Romanov to develop into something interesting, but the vibes are not great. Ivanov looks like a particularly unforgiving matchup. Ivanov has been a solid upper-tier heavyweight for over a decade across several different promotions, during which time he has proven himself as one of the toughest men in the sport. Even past his exploits in the cage, most of Ivanov’s prime has come after getting stabbed in the heart in 2012. “Baga” leans on that durability as part of a tough and grinding game that does not bring much to the table in terms of pace but often sees him stalling out and neutralizing his opponents. Ivanov might not always win, but his opponent almost never looks good during a fight with him. Everything here points to Romanov hitting a wall at some point during this fight and imploding against what might actually be his toughest opponent yet, so this should be an easy win for Ivanov, even if his unwillingness to pick up the pace could make this a particularly ugly affair. The pick is Ivanov via decision.

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