Artem Lobov got a second chance in last year’s edition of The Ultimate Fighter.
‘The Russian Hammer’ rewarded those, including Team Europe coach Conor McGregor, for their faith by making it to the TUF 22 final.
Lobov lost out to a grappling masterclass from American jiu-jitsu expert Ryan Hall.
However, the Dublin-raised fighter is getting another crack at the big time – at featherweight, not lightweight.
Lobov has been slated to fight Alex White, another American, at UFC 196 next month. The featherweight got off to a fine start in his professional career but lost his last two outings.
He is a well-rounded fighter and more technical than Lobov but was knocked out by Lucas Martins in July 2014. That means Lobov, who won three of his TUF bouts by KO, will be hopeful of landing his heavy left hook to end the bout.
UFC 196 will take place in Las Vegas and be headlined by a rematch heavyweight champion Fabrício Werdum and former champ Cain Velasquez.
After proving himself a knockout artist on The Ultimate Fighter, who’s to say that a win over White in February wouldn’t set up a run that would lead to the realisation of the fight that Lobov is desperate for – a grudge match against Urijah Faber.
