The Ultimate Fighting Championship will reportedly be adding a big heavyweight matchup to its upcoming Brazil card in May.
According to a report from Combate on Thursday, heavyweights Blagoy Ivanov (18-3, 1 NC) and Augusto Sakai (14-1-1) will square off at UFC 250 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The bout will mark Ivanov’s first appearance in South America, while his opponent Sakai has taken nearly half of his career fights in his home country of Brazil.
Ivanov suffered a setback in his recent performance, losing a split decision to Derrick Lewis in November. The durable Ivanov has never been knocked out as a professional, and sports exactly six victories by knockout, another six by submission and six more on the scorecards. Since joining the UFC in 2018, Ivanov has two decision wins over Ben Rothwell and Tai Tuivasa bookended by decision defeats to Junior dos Santos and the aforementioned Lewis.
Sakai has yet to taste defeat since dropping a split verdict to eventual Bellator MMA heavyweight title challenger Cheick Kongo. The Brazilian has won each of his last five, while recording four knockouts along that stretch including three in the Octagon. The performance that earned him a spot with the Las Vegas-based promotion came on the inaugural episode of the Brazilian Season of Dana White’s Contender Series, where he knocked out Marcos Conrado Jr. in the second frame to get a contract. However, his April 2019 victory over Andrei Arlovski generated some controversy, as he took a split decision where zero scoring media members awarded the fight to Sakai.
UFC 250 will go down on May 19 at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The card does not currently have a headliner, although the promotion is considering a bantamweight title battle atop the card with Henry Cejudo defending the strap against former featherweight king Jose Aldo. Additionally, Ketlen Vieira will face off with Marion Reneau on the card.