Bulgarian MMA fighter Blagoi Ivanov, who was stabbed early Sunday morning in a pub brawl in Sofia, is still in critical condition, doctors have informed.

Ivanov is under artificial aspiration in Sofia's Pirogov hospital.  Medical complications may arise as a result of the stab wound, a hospital official has said, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

Blagoi Ivanov aka Bagata won the gold medal in the 2008 World Sambo Championships and the bronze in the 2006 world contest. He is known in Bulgaria for organizing and participating in so-called "free fights," in which the audience bet on the outcome.

Sunday night Ivanov and two of his friends had just occupied their places in a bar on Graf Ignatiev Str., when a group of 8 persons armed with bats and knives allegedly came in and attacked them.

At 5.10 am police came in to find the attackers escaped and Ivanov with a deep stab wound under his armpit.

Ivanov's two companions have suffered only light wounds and bruises and have been discharged by the hospital.

Police are still investigating the bloody incident and have examined CCTV records of the pub in which it took place.

Many of the witnesses of the brawl were inebriated at the time, which has made the work of police harder.