In the early morning of February 26, 2012 a group of eight men entered the capitol bar "Ice" on Graf Ignatiev Street and attacked Ivanov and his two friends, both with criminal past. Ivanov was stabbed below the armpit, with the blade of the knife penetrating his heart. He was in the intensive care unit after lifesaving 6 hours of medical intervention at Sofia's Pirogov Hospital. His condition stabilized, but he was on an artificial respirator. The police are currently investigating the crime, a 23-year old suspect, nicknamed "The Dumbbell," with a long criminal record, has been detained hours after the attack. Bulgaria's Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, used the speed of the arrest as an argument for success in the country's battle against organized crime, in the speech he gave two days after the stabbing.[7][8][9]
On March 5, 2012 Ivanov was reported to be in stable condition, having regained consciousness over the weekend.[10] While his life was still considered to be in danger, he was switched to a milder treatment regimen. The problem is with his lungs, not his heart. "The Dumbbell" or Dampela, and his lawyer, Radost Karaivanova, are claiming that Ivanov initiated the fight, at one point slapping Dampela on the face. Dampela has a criminal record of extortion, drug dealing and fraudulent car registration. The defense story is that Dampela didn't know he stabbed Ivanov and went to the police immediately after finding out he did, whereas prosecution claims that Dampela bragged about the incident and intentionally picked the fight with Ivanov in drunken rage. He eventually returned to the MMA competition in September, 2013.[11][12]
On March 12, 2012, Ivanov's condition deteriorated. A second surgery was performed on him, and he was placed in an artificial coma. In a May 19 article, MMA Frenzy reported, in conjunction with the Sofia news agency novinite.com, that Ivanov has been taken out of a medically induced coma, and has been speaking with doctors. He was expected to make a full recovery in six months to a year. His assailant a man named Dampela, 23, is in permanent detention.[13][14]
Around May 12, 2012, Ivanov regained ability to talk and gave a brief press conference on the 19th in the hospital. He declared that he is determined to return to the ring and the doctors confirmed that he would be able to recover in 6 months to a year. This was his first media appearance since the stabbing and Blagoy is scheduled to leave the hospital by the end of May.[15]
On May 28, Ivanov was discharged from the hospital's intensive care unit.[16] On May 29, he was discharged from the hospital. He stated that he was determined to return to competition[17] and doctors confirmed that he could return the next year. Ivanov made his MMA return in September of 2013 and won his next four fights.
