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Conor McGregor’s friend and training partner Artem Lobov talked about what he hopes is next in the Irishman’s future.
Popular MMA fighter and bare-knuckle boxer Artem Lobov sat down with MMA Fighting’s Peter Carroll in Las Vegas recently. With Carroll Lobov discussed his friend and training partner, Conor McGregor; who fights Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone tonight at UFC 246.
Lobov, usually a staple of McGregor’s fight camps, revealed that he was unable to pitch in this time around.
“I wasn’t really involved in this camp,” said Lobov. “Because obviously I had my own bare knuckle fight and then after that I couldn’t really be in camp because my eye was really bad and I just needed time to recover.”
During the interview Lobov also talked up his friend’s levels of preparation, as is the custom.
“But I think the camp went really well. And, yeah, I’m here to support my friend Conor and it’s going to be a great show [tonight].”
According to Lobov, McGregor having a good camp means there is very little chance he loses in his comeback fight versus Cerrone this evening.
“He’s looked amazing in sparring and training and if you look at it historically, any time he has had a proper good camp, he’s never looked in trouble. Nobody has been able to ever even touch him,” claimed Lobov. “Technically wise, I don’t think there’s anybody on his level. Even the fights that, let’s say he did lose. It wasn’t because of technique. It was because the other guy was so tough, Diaz [for example], and was able to go on for so long and absorb so much punishment and that tired Conor out.”
Lobov continued his train of thought, regarding why McGregor loses fights, and applied it to tonight’s contest versus Cerrone. He claimed that there was little chance of McGregor tiring out versus the American, since — in his opinion — Cerrone isn’t as tough as previous opponents.
“Cowboy isn’t able to absorb punishment like that,” said Lobov. “He’s been stopped many times before. Historically he does badly against a south paw, so it’s looking very very good for Conor. Conor’s sharp, he’s strong, he’s big, he’s fast. He’s going to be very good tomorrow night, I think.”
With MMA Fighting Lobov also discussed what he would like to see next in McGregor’s career. Lobov entertained the idea of McGregor vs. Jorge Masvidal, but ultimately the TUF alum said he would prefer McGregor face a pair of familiar foes.
“To me personally, I think that the two important fights that I would like to see him do after this one is get the rematch with Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and then get the rematch with [Floyd] Mayweather and that’s it. And win those two and that’s it, there’s nothing left there to do. I think in terms of legacies, and this and that, and in terms of closing the chapter, I think the rematch with Khabib and the rematch with Mayweather and that’s it. Win those two.”
You can check out the full interview below: