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Born in Russia, forged in Ireland, Artem Lobov was promoted by the fans to a UFC cult icon in recent years. 'The Russian Hammer' Lobov, a friend and training partner of UFC great Conor McGregor, has been given a new nickname by the internet: GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).
The 'GOAT' trains in Dublin at SBG Ireland, the gym that became world famous for nurturing 'The Notorious McGregor.' Living in the capital city of Ireland since 2002, Lobov faces online trolls with good humor. What matters for Lobov is that people are talking about him. He doesn't care if it is good talk or bad talk.
The truth is that internet memes have, in a way, helped Lobov to resurrect his fighting career. Having a negative record of 13 wins and 15 losses, he is still one of the most popular retired UFC names to be discussed, even though he only had two wins in his six fights in the promotion.
"Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you look at all these other fighters that left the UFC, I am the only one whose stock went up after leaving the UFC. Look at Rory MacDonald, Mighty Mouse, Eddie Alvarez, all absolutely incredible athletes, absolutely great fighters, but the moment they left the UFC... that's it! Silence. You hear nothing about them," examined Lobov. "So, it's going to be hard for these guys to demand more money because now the UFC can say: 'clearly the money was justifiable because the moment they left the UFC, and they didn't have our promotional income, these guys' star didn't shine as bright anymore.' That is not the case with myself, I left the UFC, and my stock rose. So, I feel that it is fair for me to demand higher pay."
The Russian Hammer had plans of getting a seven-figure payday by the end of this year. But since the coronavirus pandemic has hindered almost everyone's plans, Lobov is sure he can do the deed next year. He announced his retirement plans by the end of 2022.
"As you know, I have announced that I'm only going to be fighting for two more years. So, I would like to have two busy years and also, obviously, [this is] depending on what offers I receive. I've never really had a shortage of offers. I was hoping to hit seven-figure paydays by the end of this year. My plan is still the same. I'm hoping that 2021 will be the year of the seven figure payday for 'The Russian Hammer.'"
Artem Lobov will fight anywhere
Since leaving the UFC in 2018, Lobov was involved with bare-knuckle fighting. He had three fights in 2019 in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, winning two and losing a rematch with former UFC lightweight Jason Knight.
His first fight with Knight was one of the most famous bouts the promotion has had until now, and it brought a lot of extra media coverage. Lobov believes it was because of his name.
"Look what I've done for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. The moment I had one fight there and now there's promotions all over the world. Russia has loads of Bare Knuckle promotions, Ukraine has a bare knuckle promotion. In the US, there's our bare-knuckle promotion, in the UK... It's all over the world, and all of that is thanks to me and Jason's first fight. You know, so, yeah, I demand high pay, but it's justifiable."
It was recently reported that Lobov signed a one-year contract with European fighting promotion Arena Fight Championship. The Russian Hammer is expected to debut against Ylies Djiroun on December 12 this year.
"Hiring me to fight is, in a way, a hedging strategy, in order to reduce the risk. If you want to be safe and secure that your main event isn't gonna fall through and you want me to do it, well, then you have to reward me for it, and you have to pay me more. That's why I demand this pay this. And then the fans know exactly what to expect with me. No matter what it is, no matter what kind of fight it is, I always bring it. It's always going to be exciting. Show me those seven figures, and let's go."
