The Paulie Malignaggi-Artem Lobov feud will come full circle later tonight (Sat., June 22, 2019) at Bare Knuckle FC 6 live on FITE.TV pay-per-view (PPV) from Tampa, Florida, as the two combat fighters square off for a bare-knuckle main event.
This is arguably the biggest fight in the career of Lobov, who produced a pedestrian track record as a member of UFC over the past few years. For Malignaggi, this is his shot to jump back into the spotlight after a highly-publicized sparring session with Lobov’s teammate, Conor McGregor, back in 2017 in the lead up to “Notorious” vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Because of McGregor’s initial spat with Malignaggi, Lobov is now in position to cash in opposite “Magic Man” and prove that a MMA fighter (albeit an average one based on record) can strike alongside a world-class boxer. Lobov, who has trained with McGregor for a very long time, revealed that he spoke to “Notorious” about the upcoming BKFC 6 grudge match and ran through some strategy with the former UFC champion.
“Absolutely, we spoke about the fight,” Lobov told TMZ Sports (shown above). “Before every fight we always exchange strategies. We’re always kind of helping the other guy out into planning their strategy and how we’re going to approach the fight.
“But for this fight we had everything broken down at the time that the spar even happened. We already knew what we were dealing with and there’s nothing to be amazed by. There’s nothing special about him. This guy has no power. Fragile little hands. Plucked out eyebrows. He’s hiding his f—king bald patch. Look how insecure this guy is.”
Lobov reiterated that McGregor lent him some tips about fighting Malignaggi.
“Like I said, we broke down the whole sparring so I know everything,” said Lobov. “I know his weaknesses and I know his strengths. I was getting ready for the best version of Paulie even though I knew only fat mess would show up.
Malignaggi, who hasn’t competed professionally since a knockout loss to Sam Eggington back in 2017, is hoping that a slaughter of Lobov inside of the ring will lead to a much-anticipated grudge match with McGregor. That is unlikely to happen, though, considering McGregor is currently retired and has bigger fish to fry inside of the UFC’s Octagon.
Needless to say, the bad blood between Malignaggi and Lobov-McGregor will come to a head later tonight at BKFC 6. And even though Malignaggi and Lobov could end up throwing bare knuckles for five bloody rounds, “Russian Hammer” has no plans of burying the hatchet after the main event is over.
“I will not be shaking his hand, but I might shake his brain,” said Lobov.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire BKFC 6 fight card on Sat. night, starting with the FITE.TV “Prelims” undercard bouts streamed free at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the FITE.TV PPV main card start time of 9 p.m. ET.