Artem Lobov is suing Conor McGregor.

Lobov and McGregor were main training partners and close friends for years, and recently, Lobov came out and said he was the reason why Proper No. 12 was created.

“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,” Lobov said to TalkSport.

Artem Lobov then claims he knew Conor McGregor could make it massive but he is the one that did all the groundwork. He was the one who also made the deal happen.

“I went on and met all different whiskey distilleries, I called some and met some in person. I did my research and put a beautiful deal together. Once the deal was ready, I went to Conor and I said, ‘Conor, I have the deal ready for you. This is going to be a billion-dollar deal, no messing here.’ I’m not sure if he took me seriously or not at the time with the billion dollars. Conor offered me $1M but I turned it down, I didn’t accept it. You know, throughout my career whenever I have helped Conor with camps, he offered to pay me for them camps, but I never accepted money from him.”

McGregor’s team refutes Lobov’s claim

Now, on Wednesday, it was reported by The Irish Independent that Lobov is suing McGregor for millions alleging that he was pivotal in developing McGregor’s Proper No. 12 Irish Whiskey. McGregor had sold a majority stake of the company for $600 million. However, Lobov claims he has an agreement that entitles him to five percent of the money McGregor made from the sale.

“My client is a retired professional fighter with a master’s degree from DCU in Finance and Capital Markets,” Lobov’s attorney, Dermot McNamara said. “We have issued High Court proceedings on his behalf to enforce an agreement with Mr McGregor regarding the Proper No. 12 whiskey brand. My client was the initial creator and co-founder of the concept to launch an Irish whiskey brand associated with Mr. McGregor. As these matters are now before the court, we will not be making any further comment.”

McGregor’s representatives then responded to Lobov’s claims and refuted them.

“Proper No. 12 Irish Whiskey was created, developed, branded, and tirelessly promoted by Conor McGregor,” Karen J Kessler said.

As of right now, it’s uncertain what the next steps are in this case but Lobov plans to take McGregor to court over this.

What do you make of Artem Lobov suing Conor McGregor?