Over the course of five rounds, Dos Santos looked like he hadn’t missed a step in his time off, as the Brazilian used his boxing arsenal to land punches at range on Ivanov all night long.
Despite his best efforts to return fire with some counter shots, Ivanov just couldn’t seem to land his best punches and instead found himself eating straight shots from Dos Santos all night long.
When it was over, Dos Santos had earned a lopsided decision victory, with each of the judges handing him 50-45 scorecards as he gets back in the win column in his first fight since May 2017.
Heading into Saturday night, Dos Santos was definitely a decided favorite according to fantasy players, with a whopping 82 percent picking the former champion, and he certainly came through with a strong performance.
In the co-main event, Sage Northcutt finally got his first win as a welterweight with a stunning knockout against Zak Ottow. Northcutt had to endure a scary exchange in the opening round as he got dropped with one of the first punches thrown by Ottow.
Still, Northcutt survived and came back guns blazing in the second round to earn the knockout victory as the 22-year old prospect continues to evolve in his UFC career.
In identical fashion to the main event, Northcutt was selected by 82 percent of fantasy players in an overwhelming margin as he gets the job done in Idaho.
In one of the biggest upsets all night, Rick Glenn pulled off a split decision victory over Dennis Bermudez in a featherweight fight on the main card. It was a back and forth battle throughout, but Glenn gutted out the victory with just 14 percent of fantasy players picking him to win.
Niko Price pulled off a stunning knockout to finish Randy Brown in a welterweight showdown. Price actually finished the fight from the bottom with a series of hammerfists that separated Brown from consciousness in one of the most unique knockouts in UFC history.
Price pulled through as the favorite with 65 percent of fantasy players picking him to win while also earning an extra 120 points because this was such a tight matchup on paper.
Former title challenger Chad Mendes came back from more than two years away and made short work of Myles Jury in a featherweight bout on Saturday night. Mendes slammed home a huge left hand in the opening round that floored Jury before the Team Alpha Male fighter got the finish a few seconds later with some vicious ground-and-pound.
Despite his long layoff, Mendes was heavily favored in the fight, with 81 percent of fantasy players picking him to win as he gets his first victory since 2015.
Cat Zingano also got back in the win column with a very impressive outing against fellow top 10 ranked women’s bantamweight contender Marion Reneau. Zingano earned the unanimous decision with 79 percent of fantasy players picking her to win while also taking home an extra 120 point bonus because it was such a close matchup going into Saturday night.
On the preliminary card, Alejandro Perez picked up yet another win, this time over former WEC champion Eddie Wineland. Despite several victories in a row, Perez was a decided underdog going into the fight, with just 37 percent of fantasy players selecting him, but the former Ultimate Fighter competitor came through with a winning performance.
In another upset, Australian powerhouse Alexander Volkanovski took out Darren Elkins in a three-round battle, with just 39 percent of fantasy players picking him. With the win, Volkanovski will undoubtedly find himself ranked very soon as he looked strong against Elkins over all three rounds.
Earlier in the night, former title contender Liz Carmouche got her first win in the UFC women’s flyweight division as she took out former Invicta FC champion Jennifer Maia in a three-round decision. Carmouche was the favorite going in, with 77 percent of fantasy players picking her to get the victory while also earning an extra 120 points because the matchup was expected to be so closely contested.
When the night was over, nine favorites were victorious, with just four upsets taking place according to the selections made by fantasy players for UFC Fight Night from Boise, Idaho.
