Say what you will about Artem Lobov but he never backed down from a fight.
Lobov has confirmed that he has been released by the UFC after recently requesting to be let go and he has wasted no time in making his availability known to other promotions.
The SBG fighter explained to ESPN that the UFC were keen to have Lobov feature on a fight card in April but ‘The Russian Hammer’ wanted to fight sooner so asked to be released from his contract, which still had three bouts remaining.
Lobov leaves the UFC with a record of 2-5, having dropped three consecutive unanimous decisions to Michael Johnson, Andre Fili and Cub Swanson.
The long-time training partner of Conor McGregor has made it clear that he is open to potential bouts in boxing, kickboxing or MMA and has already called out the likes of Amir Khan, Paulie Malignaggi and Ben Askren.
Malinagi and Khan I am ready to go next saturday, where are yous at??!! 👊🇮🇪🇷🇺
— Artem Lobov (@RusHammerMMA) January 29, 2019
Keep that belt warm for me Ben, I'll be back for it after I take over boxing 👊🇮🇪🇷🇺
— Artem Lobov (@RusHammerMMA) January 29, 2019
Lobov earned his UFC contract after a dramatic stint on The Ultimate Fighter 22, when he was eliminated in the preliminary round but was given a second chance by McGregor and seized it in no uncertain terms, knocking out three opponents in a row to set up a slot in the finale, where he was bested by Ryan Hall.
A 30-fight veteran of MMA, Lobov is seldom involved in a boring fight and while he has been criticised for putting himself in the position where he has to take a shot to give a shot, there is no denying his entertainment value and he will bring plenty of eyes to whatever promoter snaps him up.
And by the sounds of things, that won’t take long.
You are on Georgi djan, get your promotion to get in touch and lets do it!!! 👊🇮🇪🇷🇺
— Artem Lobov (@RusHammerMMA) January 29, 2019
