Knight: BKFC Will Regret Signing This (Expletive) Loser

Artem Lobov is fighting fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) export Jason Knight at the upcoming Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) pay-per-view (PPV) event inside Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss., on Sat., April 6, 2019.

So why is everyone talking about Paulie Malignaggi?

Because Lobov and Malignaggi are using what’s left of Conor McGregor’s shine (just like this guy) to cash checks as bareknuckle fighters. That’s not meant to be a slight on either combatant, but let’s just be honest with ourselves.

Lobov, who compiled a dreadful 2-5 record inside the Octagon — and went to a decision in every fight — is only making headlines and competing in main events because he trained with “Notorious.” Similarly, very few fans in mixed martial arts (MMA) ever heard of Malignaggi until he (unsuccessfully) sparred with McGregor leading up to the Irishman’s Floyd Mayweather fight.

Not surprisingly, the folks at BKFC want to strike while the iron is hot.

“They’re thinking that he’s going to run right through me and go fight Paulie, and make them some more money and all that bullshit,” Knight told MMA Junkie Radio. “But I’ve got news for them. It’s not going to be a cakewalk. I’m going to be there Saturday night, and I’m going to put hands on him. After that’s done and over with, they’re not even going to want Artem Lobov no more, much less try to book a fight with him and Paulie.”

While tensions were already at an all-time high as far back as late 2017, the situation turned physical at this week’s BKFC press conference in New York when Maligsquito slapped Lobov, leading to a conveniently-recorded scuffle on social media (watch it here).

Safe to say Knight wasn’t impressed.

“It honestly looked to me like a bunch of fake (expletive) they had rigged up,” Knight said. “If I’m going to slap a man, I’m not going to barely tap him. I’m going to slap the fire from his ass. I’m going to try and slap the spit from his mouth. The way I look at it is, as long as I fight smart, I don’t get into some stupid-ass brawl, there’s no way he can win.”

We’ll find out tomorrow night in Biloxi.