Conor McGregor's teammate Artem Lobov announces date for upcoming fight
Artem Lobov announced on Saturday that he will be returning to combat sports after taking some time away from active competition. The Ireland-based Russian fighter took to Twitter to announce his comeback against Denis Brinchick in a bare-knuckle boxing match on June 19, 2021, under the Mahatch FC banner.
'The Russian Hammer's' last outing in bare-knuckle boxing was back in 2019 as part of the headliner of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 9 in November of 2019. He faced former UFC fighter Jason Knight in a BKFC rematch at the event.
Artem Lobov was unable to pick up a second win over his opponent and the contest between the two ended in the final round with Jason Knight winning via TKO (corner stoppage).
Prior to this, Artem Lobov fought twice at the BKFC. In his first BKFC fight, Artem Lobov beat Jason Knight via unanimous decision at Bare Knuckle FC 5. He went on to face Pauli Malignaggi at Bare Knuckle FC 6, just two months after his BKFC debut. Lobov was able to win on the judges' scorecards and beat Malignaggi via unanimous decision.
Artem Lobov believes that Conor McGregor would 'absolutely kill' Jake Paul
Artem Lobov is a part of the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin and a teammate of 'The Notorious' Conor McGregor.
YouTuber Jake Paul, who has now taken to boxing, has repeatedly called out Conor McGregor for a fight in recent months. However, the Irishman has not responded to Paul's comments.
Artem Lobov was asked in an interview last December about how he thought a fight between McGregor and Jake Paul would pan out
"I mean, come on. Everybody knows that it would never happen. Conor would absolutely kill him just by looking at the guy... But the thing about this is: the guy understands the business. This Jake Paul guy understands business," said Lobov.
"And the truth of the matter is that calling out Conor McGregor will do more for your brand than fighting most of the active fighters in the world right now. That's just the truth of the matter. And to be honest, I have a term for this for many years already: I call it a safe call out," Lobov added.