Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports
Artem Lobov has signed with Arena Fight Promotion.
Breaking news: The GOAT is back.
That’s right, Conor McGregor teammate Artem Lobov will be returning to MMA following his three-fight stint with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship and will take on French MMA veteran Ylies Djiroun (17-6 MMA)under the Arena Fight Championship banner later this year.
Lobov signed a one-fight deal with the European-based MMA promotion and will make his promotional debut at Arena Fight 2 in December.
Lobov was cut by the UFC after dropping three-straight fights in 2017/2018 but went on to beat Jason Knight and Paulie Malignaggi at BKFC 5 and BKFC 6 last year. ‘The Russian Hammer’ left the bare knuckle fight promotion with a 3-1 record (Lobov suffered a TKO loss to Knight in the rematch) and hasn’t fought in mixed martial arts since his unanimous decision loss to Michael Johnson at UFC Fight Night 138.
Lobov, who trains with McGregor at SBG Ireland, sports a professional MMA record of 13–15–1 (1).