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UFC Fight Night 133 results: Junior Dos Santos tops Blagoy Ivanov in five-rounder

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In what turned out to be a 25-minute boxing match, former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos wasn’t overwhelmingly impressive, but got back in the win column.

Dos Santos (19-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) took a unanimous decision from ex-WSOF champion Blagoy Ivanov (16-2-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who was making his UFC debut. Dos Santos won with a trio of 50-45 scores.

Ivanov landed plenty of punches – nearly the same amount as Dos Santos. But Dos Santos’ success rate seemed to be much higher on his way to the win.

The heavyweight bout was the main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 133 show at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Dos Santos pushed Ivanov outside early and looked for an opening. Dos Santos fired a right hand 30 seconds in, then a push kick to the body. A right hand over the top was good for Dos Santos, but Ivanov returned with a right of his own. Dos Santos tried kicking to the body, then went up top with a big head kick. Dos Santos landed a body kick with 90 seconds left and continued to be on the front of the exchanges. Ivanov put together a combo with 45 seconds left, but didn’t land cleanly.

Dos Santos threw a spinning back kick 35 seconds into the second, and it just glanced off Ivanov. Ninety seconds in, a quick pair of right hands popped Ivanov’s head back. But for the most part, Dos Santos’ offense was one or two punches or a kick and not much in the way of sustained attacks. Ivanov tried to mount some offense with 80 seconds left, but there wasn’t much behind it. A big combo was good for Dos Santos with 15 seconds left in the frame.

Ivanov landed a few left hands early in the third. Dos Santos returned with a right hand not long after. Ivanov landed a big left hand with two minutes left and popped Dos Santos’ head back. Then a right hand landed and Dos Santos tried to scramble away. Ivanov started to pick his openings a little more carefully. Dos Santos got a second warning from Herb Dean for throwing punches with his fingers out, then landed a right on the restart.

Dos Santos landed a good right early in the fourth. A right kick followed a minute later. Midway through, the fans seemed to get a little restless with claps and stomps hoping for some more action. When Ivanov tried to chase Dos Santos down with two minutes left, Ivanov looked worn out.

Ivanov’s corner told him ahead of the final round he needed a knockout if he wanted to win, and he came out throwing. Ninety seconds in, after two warnings for having his fingers extended, though, Dos Santos seemed to do it again. But Dean determined it wasn’t worth a point deduction. And on the restart, the two started swinging. With 50 seconds left, after a kick from Dos Santos, Ivanov put a combination together. Ivanov tried to chase Dos Santos down late, but couldn’t make anything big land.

Dos Santos is back in the win column after a title-fight loss to now-former champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 211 14 months ago. He has won two of his past three, but has alternated wins and losses his past nine fights. Ivanov had a five-fight winning streak snapped for just the second loss of his career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 133 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 133, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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