Blagoy Ivanov took some heavy shots from Tai Tuivasa tonight at UFC 238, but the former WSOF champ landed plenty of his own, and emerged victoriously.

Both heavyweights were fairly busy in the opening minutes, as they fired stining punches. Tuivasa clinched up momentarily and landed a hard elbow, but moments later, he was dropped by an Ivanov counter right. Tuivasa got back to his feet, clinched up again and several exchanges ensued. In the round’s final minute, the heavyweights traded booming shots, and surprisingly, no one went down.

Tuivasa fired a couple of leg kicks to begin the second round, and moments later, he wobbled Ivanov badly with a right hand. Ivanov recovered, however, and the two returned to tossing big punches. Mid-round, Tuivasa continued to mix in leg kicks while Ivanov continued to throw 1-2s. Before the round ended, Tuivasa clinched up again, but found himself defending a choke attempt.

Early in round three, Tuivasa punished Ivanov’s lead leg some more with kicks. Then it was Ivanov who clinched up. Ivanov once again started digging for a choke but Tuivasa defended. Ivanov continued to work from the clinch, but later in the round, Tuivasa worked his way out. The latter fired in a couple more leg kicks, before they traded more, winging hard shots. 

All three judges awarded Ivanov the decision win, although, somewhat surprisingly, two of the judges gave him all three rounds.

Here are the results so far for UFC 238, which is taking place in Chicago.

Blagoy Ivanov def. Tai Tuivasa via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Tatiana Suarez def. Nina Ansaroff via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Aljamain Sterling def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alexa Grasso def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Calvin Kattar def. Ricardo Lamas via KO (punches) R1, 4:06
Yan Xiaonan def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Darren Stewart def. Bevon Lewis via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Eddie Wineland def. Grigorii Popov via TKO (punches) R2, 4:47
Katlyn Chookagian def. Joanne Calderwood via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

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