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10th Apr 2018

Khabib’s manager calls for Artem Lobov to be cut from UFC for role in bus attack

Pulling no punches

Ben Kiely

The bus attack on UFC 223 media has already cost Artem Lobov a fight, but Ali Abdel-Aziz wants more.

Artem Lobov was scheduled to fight Alex Caceres at UFC 223. Brooklyn having a large Russian and Irish population meant that it would have been a great platform for the SBG fighter to snap his losing streak.

However, after the bus attack on media day involving Conor McGregor, Lobov was removed from the card. The incident was thought to be retaliation for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s confrontation with ‘The Russian Hammer’ in the fighters’ hotel earlier in the week.

Ali Abdel-Aziz has criticised Lobov for his reaction to Nurmagomedov grabbing him by the neck in the corridor of the hotel. Nurmagomedov’s manager explained on the MMA Hour that if he was the one who had been treated like that, he would have reacted very differently.

“Artem is straight up a fucking pussy because if I’m a man and somebody grabbed me by the neck, if DC grabbed my neck, I’m going to slap him, I’m going to punch him… If you’re going to get somebody else to fight your fight because you’re going to risk his family, his kid’s money, his career, his legacy because you are a fucking bitch who cannot defend himself, that’s what happened.”

Abdel-Aziz feels that Lobov deserves to be cut from the promotion over the incident on media day. In fact, he vowed to request that the promotion axes him.

“Artem Lobov cannot defend him-fucking-self. He got fucking punked. Realistically, you are a professional fighter. You shouldn’t be in the UFC, you are 13-4 (sic). You should be cut from the UFC and I think that will happen. He will be fucking cut. I will ask for him to be cut. He jeapordised the whole event. How the fuck… this guy’s not even supposed to be in the UFC.”

Jesus, Ali, tell us how you really feel.