Blagoy Ivanov and Augusto Sakai agreed to meet at the UFC show scheduled for May 23 in a yet-to-be-announced location in the United States, multiple sources told MMA Fighting following a report by Combate.
The heavyweight duo was originally paired up to compete on May 9 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but the pay-per-view card was eventually scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic.
One source told MMA Fighting that Sakai still doesn’t have the proper visa to compete on U.S. soil, the reason why Sakai and six other Brazilians were pulled from UFC 250 last month, but the UFC is assisting him on this matter.
A former WSOF heavyweight champion and Bellator contender, Ivanov (18-3, 1 no-contest) is coming off a split-decision loss to Derrick Lewis in November, breaking his two-fight winning streak over Ben Rothwell and Tai Tuivasa.
Sakai (14-1-1), who also fought under the Bellator banner before inking a deal with the UFC, is 4-0 inside the octagon with a Contender Series knockout over Marcos Conrado Jr. followed by wins against Chase Sherman, Andrei Arlovski and Marcin Tybura.
UFC’s May 23 show currently Mackenzie Dern vs. Hannah Cifers and Klidson Abreu vs. Jamahal Hill.
Source: MMAfighting.com
