Tomorrow night, Artem Lobov will face the biggest test of his career in the UFC’s fourth-ranked featherweight, Cub Swanson. He’ll enter this fight on a two-fight win-streak, and if he scores the upset, he’s likely to burst into the featherweight top-10, where more high-stakes challenges await.
Things haven’t always been so good for Lobov. Speaking to Peter Carroll of NewsTalk.com, Lobov explained that, after losing his first two fights with the organization – decisions to Ryan Hall and Alex White – he actually contacted the UFC and asked to be released from his contract. Apparently, he was offered a fight with a champion in another promotion.
“I messaged the UFC and told them to release me,” Lobov said of his mindset after his second consecutive UFC loss.
“I explained that I understood that I had two losses and if they were going to cut me it would be fair. I told them I had found a champion outside of the UFC to fight, who I felt was the best unsigned talent outside of the promotion.”
advertisement – continue reading below“I was confident that the other promotion wanted to put the fight on, but then the UFC came back to me with another matchup. I took it because UFC is where I want to be.”
“Having those losses was not easy, but I’m not a moaner and I’m not a complainer. I’m a go-getter and an earner,” he said. “I was never going to stay down, crying. I dusted myself off and I was ready to either leave the UFC or get another matchup. I wasn’t begging anyone for another fight, I wasn’t crying about the bad situation.
“Instead of that, I just thought about what I needed to do to fix the situation and get me to where I needed to be. I did just that and now I am where I want to be.”
In his last two fights, Artem Lobov has defeated Chris Avila and Teruto Ishihara, both by decision. Do you think he can make it three in a row against Swanson? Sound off, PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/21/2017.