When Artem Lobov destroyed Rita Ora for going on a ‘date night’ with UFC star Conor McGregor

Back in 2017, when Conor McGregor and then-SBG teammate Artem Lobov were on good terms, 'The Notorious' was the subject of speculation of an affair with British singer-songwriter Rita Ora. The rumors of 'Mystic Mac' and Ora 'dating' were fueled by a picture posted by the British singer.

Rita Ora and Conor McGregor were seen together at the British Fashion Awards 2017. Ora herself tweeted a picture of the both of them with the caption 'Date Night', which further brought them under scrutiny.

Not taking too kindly to Ora's post, 'The Russian Hammer' Artem Lobov replied with a scathing tweet, denigrating the singer-songwriter:

"Sorry Rita, burgers are nice, but not when a man has steak at home."

Rita Ora's tweet and Artem Lobov's reply [Image courtesy: @RitaOra (Twitter)]

Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov were once great friends, with the duo appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 22. 'The Notorious' helped 'The Russian Hammer' coast to a spot in the finals, with the Russian-Irishman having some spectacular moments in the season.

McGregor even flew out of Dublin to Brooklyn to confront Khabib Nurmagomedov when the latter slapped Lobov following an online spat. Such was the friendship between Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov.

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Inside Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov's beef

We don't have to keep re-iterating the fact that Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov were once like brothers. It came as a shock to everyone when 'The Russian Hammer' sued 'The Notorious' in late 2022. Basically, Lobov claimed that he gave McGregor the idea for the Proper 12 Irish Whiskey brand, and that he didn't receive a dime for it.

Here's what Lobov said about the situation in an interview with TalkSport, according to an article by The Irish Mirror:

"The selling point of my book will be the Proper 12 Whiskey story. A few people know, but this was actually my idea. I was the person who came up with the idea to do a whiskey for Conor. After the second Diaz fight, [Conor and I] were in the gym and we were talking one day and he says to me, ‘Artem, Thor, – ‘The Mountain’ out of Game of Thrones – I was chatting to him, and he’s offered me to do my own vodka."

'The Russian Hammer' continued:

"He said he was doing one in Iceland and now he’s offering me the chance to do one as well. It looks like a pretty good deal what do you think about that? I said, ‘well Conor I’ll tell you one thing. Vodka is the best-selling spirit and it’s definitely something we should look into at some point."

Lobov ended up losing the lawsuit against the former UFC dual-weight champion, and the Irishman has since had less-than-savory words to say about his former teammate and friend.