Artem Lobov wishes Conor McGregor took his fight preparation for Khabib Nurmagomedov more seriously.
McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was submitted by Nurmagomedov in the fourth round of their lightweight title fight at UFC 229 in October 2018, marking the highest-selling pay-per-view in the promotion’s history. McGregor’s fight against Nurmagomedov came after he made his biggest-career paycheck against Floyd Mayweather in boxing.
Prior to the Nurmagomedov fight, McGregor’s most recent MMA fight was arguably the greatest performance of his career when he dominated and stopped Eddie Alvarez to become the UFC’s first dual-champion. Lobov thinks that mindset of McGregor could have posed problems for Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC).
“I would love to see him come back, because I feel that if he was at 100 percent, we would be able to bring Khabib back, as well,” Lobov said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I think Khabib would come back for that fight if Conor was 100 percent and fit and making real moves, making real fights. He would just need one fight, knock the guy out, and then the whole world will be talking to Khabib and getting him to come back. I know that fight bothers Conor because he didn’t train at all for that fight.
“Twice a week he was training for Khabib. I tried to get him to Vegas and said to him, ‘We have to do it, come on, brother.’ And he said, ‘No, f*ck off.’ He just didn’t want to do it. He was in the wrong mindset. He was in the party mindset. He was training twice a week, and that’s it. So when I saw the fight, I was like, ‘Oh my God, if only you trained four times a week, you probably would’ve beaten him.’ But imagine him with a full camp, the Conor that fought Alvarez. Imagine that Conor fighting Khabib. That’s what I want to see.”
Lobov and McGregor went from best friends and main training partners to now battling each in an ongoing legal battle over McGregor’s Proper Twelve whiskey brand. Lobov announced that he’ll be fighting Nurmagomedov’s training partner, Zubaira Tukhugov, at a PFL event on Oct. 3 in Dubai.
