“He hasn’t got a clue what he’s in for here. He’s just preparing for a boxing, twelve-round fight. It’s not that.”
Former UFC featherweight turned bare knuckle fighter Artem Lobov thinks Paulie Malignaggi is in for a rude awakening at BKFC 6.
Malignaggi, who has spat at Lobov and hurled all kind of obscenities towards ‘The Russian Hammer’ in the lead-up Saturday’s bare knuckle grudge match, thinks his BKFC debut will be a walk in the park.
Lobov, however, doesn’t think Malignaggi knows what he’s letting himself in for.
Speaking to The Mac Life in a recent interview, Lobov sounded off on ‘Magic Man’ and suspects the former two-division boxing champ will be inadequately prepared for BKFC 6.
“It ticks all the boxes for me except one,” Artem Lobov said to The Mac Life. “I always seek the highest challenge, the biggest challenge. I always look to truly challenge myself. When I was in the UFC I challenged some of the biggest guys in the world. When I was fighting in Europe I did the same. Anywhere I was, I always seek the hardest challenge. I win some, I lose some but I always take the hardest challenge.
“This is not the case this time, this is personal, this is about settling a score. This is about punishing someone that’s done a lot of wrongs. Somebody that’s been running his mouth a bit too much, somebody that’s been behaving like an animal, not like a human. Somebody that’s been so disrespectful on so many levels. I have to make this right, that’s what this is about.
“Fighting Paulie Malignaggi in bare-knuckle is not a challenge for me. He hasn’t got a clue what he’s in for here. He’s just preparing for a boxing, twelve-round fight. It’s not that.”
Carrying on, Lobov said he plans to give Malignaggi the biggest beating of his combat sports career.
“I want to hurt this guy extra hard, I want to punish this guy extra long. I want to play with this guy as much as I want,” he said. “I want to get him for everything that he has said. I want to get him for everything that he has done — not just for me, but for everyone around the world.”
BKFC 6, which will feature Lobov vs. Malignaggi as the main event, is scheduled to take place this Saturday, June 22 at Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida.