Renowned MMA journalist and host of ‘The MMA Hour’ Ariel Helwani is pleading with Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov to find and peaceful resolution to their current legal dispute.
McGregor and Lobov became close friends while training together at Dublin’s SBC Ireland gym. Regularly appearing in one another’s corner on fight night, the two appeared to have a bond stronger than oak. That all changed when Lobov filed a lawsuit against McGregor, seeking roughly $30 million, claiming that he helped developed McGregor’s incredibly popular brand of Irish whiskey, Proper No. Twelve.
In 2021, it was reported that Conor McGregor had sold the majority of his share of Proper No. Twelve to Proximo Spirits for a whopping $600 million. Artem Lobov is asking for 5% of those earnings.
In response to the lawsuit, McGregor challenged Lobov to a street fight on Twitter saying, “I’m challenging you to a fight tonight, 10:30 pm. I’ll meet you down at SBG Concorde and we’ll fight for the whole lot.”
🚨BREAKING🚨
Conor McGregor has called out Artem Lobov to fight him TONIGHT.
"I'm challenging you to a fight tonight, 10:30pm. I'll meet you down at SBG Concorde & we'll fight for the whole lot."
Lobov is suing McGregor 5% of the proceeds he got from the sale of Proper 12. pic.twitter.com/PIWU1Gq35S
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) November 29, 2022
Helwani Interjects Himself in Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov Legal Dilemma
Always the optimist, Ariel Helwani used his platform, ‘The MMA Hour‘ in an attempt to appeal to the former friends, encouraging them to come to an amicable resolution to the lawsuit that is clearly tearing their relationship apart. Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple when millions of dollars are at stake, but you have to appreciate Helwani’s sincerity in wanting to see two of MMA’s closest friends repair their broken relationship.
“I would love to say to Conor [Mcgregor] and Artem [Lobov], ‘Please figure out a way to end this in the most amicable way possible.’ I know that those two had a great friendship and a great relationship,” Helwani said. “Artem was extremely loyal and Conor, I think, was extremely loyal back to him. You saw the emotion when Artem would win and you saw the emotion when Conor would win. That’s not fake.
“I don’t know what happened behind the scenes… It seems like it’s very personal and very sensitive. Unfortunately, these things happen when money is involved. As someone who knows both of them, to a degree… it kind of makes me sad,” Ariel Helwani said. “No one wants to see them taking sh*t about each other, lawsuits, and all this stuff. I sincerely hope there’s a way… figure this out, go on their merry way, and maybe be friends again down the line, or not… It really bums me out. This is one of the great friendships in the sport.”
“Please, on behalf of the MMA community, can we figure this out? Can we be friends again?” (h/t MMA News)
