Artem Lobov is preparing for his first UFC main event appearance when he faces Cub Swanson at UFC Fight Night 108.
Lobov is a longtime training partner of current UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor and doesn’t see his training partner losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. if they finally box each other.
“Being honest, and I know I’m going to get a lot of hate from it, but I don’t see Mayweather making it past the sixth round,” Lobov said on The MMA Hour. “And if it was Pacquiao, I don’t see Pacquiao making it past two rounds. And look, I was the one that predicted the one minute against Aldo. There is an interview of me, I can’t find it now, but there is a video of me where Conor keeps talking about four minutes, saying around the four-minute mark he was going to stop Aldo, and me saying, ‘no, forget the four minutes. It doesn’t get out of the first minute,’ and sure enough it was. I’m sure I got a lot of hate for that too, but trust me I know something. I’ve sparred this man for a very long time and I’ve watched this game for a many, many years and I understand a thing or two.”
McGregor himself hasn’t competed since winning the lightweight title at UFC 205 and Mayweather Jr. has been retired since 2015.
The bout is far from finalized and Lobov is one of those people who hopes the superfight comes to fruition.
“I certainly hope it will happen,” Lobov said. “I mean, we’re ready, we’re getting ready for that fight, make no mistake about it, Conor is ready to go, he’s a loaded weapon. Whenever Mayweather wants to sign on that dotted line, we’re good to go because Mayweather, he’s a big man for talking but whether he actually wants the fight, I don’t know.”
UFC Fight Night 108 takes place on Saturday, April 22 from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee with Cub Swanson and Artem Lobov headlining.
