Conor McGregor is currently being sued by Artem Lobov, and the Irish superstar was looking to fight him in the SBG Ireland gym.
Lobov is suing McGregor over Proper No. 12 Whiskey, a billion-dollar whiskey brand. Lobov is a former long-time training partner of McGregor who claimed he actually came up with the idea and did much of the work to get the Irish spirit off the ground.
According to Lobov:
“A few people know, but this was actually my idea. I was the person who came up with the idea to do a whiskey for Conor … I said to him before you even look any further, ‘here’s what I know about Irish whiskey.’ I told him about my presentation from college. I told him about the dominance of Irish whiskey and all of that.”
Artem Lobov then went to different alcohol sales contacts he had in the country and setup and introduction, Lobov continued:
“Once I got that information I went on and met all the different whiskey distilleries. I called some and met some in person. I did my research and put a beautiful deal together … Once the deal was ready, I went to Conor and I said, ‘Conor, I have the deal ready for you. This is going to be a billion-dollar deal, no messing here’ … I introduced Audie [Attar] and the rest of the Paradigm team to my deal and all the people I was already working with, and then we got going.“
Artem Lobov was never given a cut of Conor McGregor’s Proper No. 12 Whiskey success which is now valued in the billions and therefore Lobov is suing his former training partner.
Conor McGregor looking to fight Artem Lobov
Upon hearing the news that he was being sued by Artem Lobov, Conor McGregor challenged his former friend to a fight in the SBG Ireland gym. In a now-deleted voice note on Twitter, McGregor said:
“This is a call-out to Artem Lobov. I am challenging you to a fight tonight, 10.30pm. I’ll meet you at SBG Concorde and we’ll fight for the whole lot. Having lawyers messaging me about defamation and suing and all … You’re a little blouse mate, I’ll see you at SBG Concorde tonight at 10.30pm and we’ll fight for the whole lot. Answer this f***ing call-out, you little blouse.” [Transcript courtesy Mirror]
McGregor later published a picture of him at the SBG Ireland gym.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 30, 2022
According to The Mirror, McGregor could later be heard speaking with a fan who turned up to the gym in the hopes of watching a free fight, joking that they have “Artem in the boot” of their car.
Lobov and McGregor were side-by-side during the biggest moments of Conor McGregor’s career. The Russian-born athlete was next to McGregor during the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Khabib Nurmagomedov fights in addition to being a cornerman when he won his first title in the UFC.