Artem Lobov is booked to fight Alex Caceres at UFC 223 on April 7, 2018, in Brooklyn, New York and the ‘The Russian Hammer’ admits that his teammate and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is ‘probably did’ factor into my UFC 223 booking.
UFC 223’s main event headlined by Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who are set to clash for the ‘undisputed’ lightweight title. Russian believes he was booked on the same card as Tony vs. Khabib to assure that UFC champ, Conor McGregor, would be ringside for the event.
“I’d say they definitely might have thought about it,” Lobov told MMA Fighting. “It probably did (factor into the decision), and why not?
“They flew Conor out to see Aldo’s fight in Brazil before when he was defending his belt against Chad Mendes, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see history repeating itself in Brooklyn. I guess they did kind of think about that.”
Conor McGregor has a history of making headlines, and no doubt finds himself in hot water after making some controversial and offensive remarks when he was in attendance for Lobov’s featherweight match against Andre Fili at UFC Fight Night 118 in Gdansk, Poland. Mcgregor was ordered to restrain himself by referee Marc Goddard for circling the cage to give his teammate advice.
Artem Lobov said he’s not ‘concerned’ with why the UFC chose to book him on this card, but his focus is beating Caceres to snap a two-fight losing skid.
“I’m not too concerned about why they booked me, if I’m honest. I need to fight and I need to win. That’s my main focus now. Whether it’s in the UFC or elsewhere, you need to winning in this sport.”
Previously, rumors surfaced indicating that Lobov and Caceres would meet in London next month, but Lobov is looking forward to fighting in Brooklyn, where there is a thriving Irish and Russian community.
“This is a great card,” Lobov said. “London would have been a good one as well with it being Paddy’s Day and London being so close to Dublin. I would have loved to be there, but this is just as good.
“The Irish and Russian communities are huge in New York, so this is truly one of the only places where I can fight in front of all of my fans. I really feel like I represent both Ireland and Russia when I fight, so this is a good opportunity to represent both nations.”
What do you think Conor Mcgregor will be there to support his teammate Artem like he did previously?
