Blagoi Ivanov is just a few days away from having the opportunity to obtain his goal of becoming a Bellator tournament winner and getting one step closer to winning championship gold.
The undefeated heavyweight is scheduled to face former Bellator champion Alexander Volkov on the pay-per-view portion of this Saturday’s Bellator 120 card.
But before Ivanov steps inside the cage, he wants to set the record state on a certain issue that his been bugging him.
“It’s important to me for fans to know that I represent Bulgaria, meaning that my fight with Alexander Volkov is not an ‘all Russian final’ as it’s said to be,” said Ivanov. “I understand the misinterpretation though. It’s like Canadians and Americans – they live in the same country and speak the same language, but they are different nationalities.”
It’s an important point of discussion for the 27-year-old Bulgarian because of how proud he is of his country.
“There are about 7 million people in Bulgaria right now, so it’s a small country, but very beautiful, and has a deep history in sports. Many great athletes have come from Bulgaria, and now I feel I’m carrying the banner, the flag for Bulgaria in combat sports.”
As far as his fight with Volkov goes, Ivanov believes that he has the advantage on the ground.
“His [Volkov] ground game has improved and right now he’s training with Black House in Los Angeles with all those black belts,” said Ivanov. “But he’ll have to deal with me and my skills on the ground, and those skills propelled me to a Combat Sambo championship. I feel [that] I and my ground game are more battle proven.”
While Ivanov understands that his fight with Volkov could go the distance, that’s now how he has envisioned the fight going down.
“I’m planning for a very quick finish for Alexander Volkov. That’s my intention. However, I’m fully prepared to fight for all three rounds because Alexander Volkov is a worthy an respectable opponent.”
With all of the preparation out of the way, Blagoi Ivanov’s Bellator journey may just be defined but what it takes place inside the cage against Alexander Volkov this Friday. Regardless, Ivanov is ready.
“The moment of truth awaits me. My dream is standing before me. I’m on the verge of an amazing completion to my mission in life. I’m steps away from becoming a world champion and I’m taking the first step on May 17th.”