Conor McGregor brought Artem Lobov to UFC, says Sean O'Malley in response to Lobov suing McGregor

Sean O'Malley has weighed in on UFC megastar Conor McGregor getting sued by Artem Lobov. In August of this year, McGregor's longtime friend and training partner Lobov suggested that he'd given the Irishman the idea of starting an Irish whiskey brand.

Additionally, Lobov claimed he'd turned down the $1 million McGregor offered him for the idea. The former UFC fighter indicated that McGregor would always offer him money for help, including his assistance in training camps, but he'd refuse to accept the money.

Fast-forward to this month, Artem Lobov sent shockwaves through the MMA community by suing Conor McGregor.

'The Russian Hammer' has demanded five percent of what McGregor earned by selling the majority of his stakes in his 'Proper Number 12' Irish whiskey brand. McGregor raked in hundreds of millions of dollars and became the highest-earning athlete of 2021, courtesy of the sale.

In an edition of The TimboSugarShow podcast, UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley and his coach Tim Welch suggested that McGregor helped Lobov get into the UFC despite the latter's subpar MMA record.

Welch notably recalled the time he competed in the same season of the UFC's TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) reality show as Lobov in 2015.

Welch insinuated that he witnessed Lobov benefit during his TUF stint and subsequent UFC run due to his ties with McGregor. Meanwhile, expressing his support for McGregor, O'Malley stated:

"See, Artem suing Conor; he wants five percent of the -- That's f**ked! I mean, we don't know the details. But just from what Conor seemed like he was doing for Artem, [McGregor] got him in the UFC, basically. [Lobov] had a sh** record. [McGregor] got him in the UFC, got him fights, got him popular."

Watch O'Malley and Welch discuss the topic at 33:10 in the video below:

---

Conor McGregor issues a hilarious response after being sued by Artem Lobov

It's believed that Conor McGregor will return from his injury hiatus in early 2023. The consensus is that the 34-year-old will likely compete in the welterweight division in his comeback fight.

Ahead of his highly-anticipated return, McGregor recently took to Twitter to jibe at Artem Lobov. In a now-deleted voice tweet, McGregor lightheartedly sang a jingle:

"Artem is a rat."

Check out the jingle below:

Moreover, Conor McGregor's team fired back at Artem Lobov's allegations and labeled them "incorrect."

Lobov, for his part, has maintained that he encouraged McGregor to start the Irish whiskey company, besides also helping him in the initial stages of the business venture's networking aspect. Additional details concerning the legal issue are expected to unravel in the days to come.