Last April, Artem Lobov carved himself out a little piece of combat sports history.
As part of the fledgling Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the former Cage Warriors and UFC veteran engaged in a wild ten-minute bout of savagery opposite fellow ex-UFC veteran Jason Knight. It was one of those fights from which you can’t look away, even if your view comes almost entirely from looking through your fingers as blood paints the canvas and teeth go flying.
In the end it was Lobov who had his bare knuckles raised by the referee after a breathless fight in which both men had their moments and, ahead of their rematch on November 16 ‘The Russian Hammer’ says that the experience of that first brawl, as well as his decision victory against Paulie Malignaggi last summer, have uniquely prepared him for what is to come.
“To be honest, I think I’m a lot better prepared this time,” Lobov said to Chael Sonnen. “The first fight, that was my first ever bareknuckle fight, I was sort of going in there blind basically because I didn’t really know how to prepare for it. Whereas now having done two fights I’m a lot better prepared and I think I’ll be able to put him away.
“The last time I pretty much did put him away. The fight should have been stopped, I dropped him three times in one round so it should be stopped. When I dropped him the last time in that round you can see the referee was affected by the fact that he had heard the ten second clapper and that’s why he let it go on. He says to Jason, ‘Jason, put your hands up’, as in to your chin, ‘and walk towards me’.
“Instead of here (his chin), he puts them up (raises hands) because he was clearly out of it and starts wobbling as he walks. That to me should have been a stoppage but because he had heard the ten second clapper he knew there was only a couple of seconds left. He said, OK, go on. Continue.’ and then stopped the round as soon as we went to continue. But the fight should have been stopped there realistically and that would have been it.”
Another name linked to Lobov is that of Khabib Nurmagomedov, a figure who has a long history with SBG Ireland. Lobov has long repeated his desire to one day face Zubaira Tukhugov, a friend and training partner of Nurmagomedov’s, and he gave Sonnen an update as to his feelings on that particular rivalry.
“Definitely, things are not fine,” Lobov said. There’s some unsettled business there, and I think in due course it will all be settled. But as of now, it’s definitely not. Not even close. It’s Khabib’s fans obviously, I have a lot of Russian fans, myself, that support me — and obviously he has a lot of guys that support him,” he added.
“So obviously his guys that support him, they always have a lot to say about me, but I don’t mind. It keeps my name in the headlines, it keeps my name in the Internet searches, and as a result, it keeps my salary nice and high.”
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