MMA Fighting - Artem Lobov On His Return to MMA, Personal Rivalry with Zubaira Tukhugov and Plans for Retirement

Episode Date: October 15, 2020

Artem Lobov discusses his return to MMA for the first time in over a year, the personal rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov's teammate as well as his plans for retirement in the near future. Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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To mixed martial arts for the first time In over two years When he debuts at Arena Fight Championship in December You all know his name Ardum Loboff Thank you so much for taking this time And I really appreciate it I had some audio difficulties

I apologize Oh good or good man I'm the worst with technology Like if this was to happen to me I would know what to fucking know Well, I appreciate you taking the time as always, Arden. How is everything, man? I know it's been kind of a crazy year since, you know, with the pandemic and everything.

How is everything with you at home? Yeah, man, the fucking year was absolutely crazy. You know, this corona thing is so frustrating. You know, I can't even talk about it anymore. Honest to God, like, I'm just, I'm ready to move on. I'm ready just to accept whatever happens. It happens. Let's just fucking open everything up and let's get back to normal.

Like Sweden, though, you know what I mean? Sweden didn't close. goes anything, they're laughing at the whole world. And we're here fucking talking about shutting down everything, killing the economy, people are unhappy, everybody is unfit now because they've been at home for so long. Enough. Let's fucking open it up and let's go. Whatever happens happens.

I feel like at this point, you know, obviously, you know, I have zero problem wearing a mask in public as long as I can go where I want. Yeah, my mask I have no problem with. Let's all wear masks, but open everything up. You know, I don't give a fuck about the mask. That's not an issue for me. But I have a problem with businesses being closed, you know, and especially here in Ireland,

they close businesses like pubs and, you know, bars and restaurants and hope to reduce the numbers. But people are just meeting at home instead. So you're not solving the problem and at the same time they're killing the businesses. So what's the fucking point? Just open it up and let people enjoy themselves, let people, you know, build, continue to build their businesses.

Don't kill these businesses for people, you know what I mean? Because for some of these people, Now, yeah, okay, they didn't get no corona, but now their business is dead, and they, you know, they don't see a future without it. You know what I mean? You've killed their life. You've killed their future in other ways. So, you know, let's open it up and let's go. That's my view on this at this stage.

Yeah. I don't want to start on a negative note, Arndham, but to that point, you're a guy who loves staying busy. I know you like, you know, being an active fighter. How much is this year, and we'll obviously talk about the good news you got to fight booked in December, but how much has this year? you know, hampered your fight schedule. Yeah, a lot. Honestly, I had some very, very good offers on the table. I was in talks for boxing fights, you know,

bare-knuckle, MMA, K-1, all of it, you know, and everything kind of fell flat on its face. Because of Corona, I'm frustrated because, of course, I'm not very young also. And I do feel the time, you know, is pushing on and the clock is ticking, so I definitely didn't want to take a year off at this time, you know. So I'm hoping that everything is back to normal

and I will be able to stay active because I have planned my retirement in two years' time so I'm hoping to stay very, very busy for the next two years and then it's goodbye everybody. Thank you very much and that will be me. Why, again, Artem, you know, you've obviously put on so many great fights. What is it about that timeline? Did you have that in your head from the beginning two more years

and you wanted to call it a career? Kind of give me an idea where that came from. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just, you know, from stats, you know, when you look at boxers, you know, 1 in 5, 20% retires with permanent brain injuries. You know, and if you can, if you take into consideration the style that I possess, chances are I might be part of those numbers, part of those stats. And I don't want to be, you know, I have a young son and I would like to be a good father to him. So I just have to be realistic. I mean, of course, you can always hope for the best. But I don't like to hope, you know, in this sort of thing.

I like to look at facts, and I like to be realistic. So, you know, taking all that into consideration, I decided that I just have to, you know, I just have to decide on the time frame, and then once that time comes, no matter what it is, no matter what happens, I just retire, and that's it. Yeah. Do you think, I mean, not that, you know, obviously fighters should, and I would hope all fighters think about their long-term health in this sport, but do you think more fighters should take that seriously when we talk about

continuing on this sport. We see a lot of guys who just never retire, never walk away, and you kind of shake your head. You're like, man, you just feel like the permanent damage is going to happen at some point. Absolutely, they should. I mean, the numbers that I just mentioned to you, I mean, this is in boxing, of course, not in MMA.

MMA is still a young sport, so we don't have, you know, as much of data as of yet, but still, you know, just look at the boxing numbers. You know, one in five, this is absolutely crazy. Yeah, so everybody, absolutely should be thinking about it and always should be doing all the correct checks, getting MRI twice a year, getting full checkups, and also considering the style, considering how many shots you're taking in training, and all of that. Absolutely, you know,

it is very, very important to look at it that way, or else you will just end up brain damage. That's just the cruel reality of our sport. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So give me an idea, Artem, because obviously we heard this fight, you're getting announced for arena fight in December. How did this whole thing come about? Was this really about opportunity and timing more than you were focused on going back to MMA? Again, Corona has kind of ruined the year for a lot of people, so kind of give me an idea how this one came together.

Yeah, so, I mean, I've had many different promoters reaching out to me, and I had been reaching out to some promoters as well. And of course, because given the corona times, everything was very uncertain. So I couldn't be too picky. but at the same time, whenever anybody reached out to me, I said, look, guys, say nothing to me. I don't care what sport that is. I don't care who the opponent is. I don't care what weight it is, but this is the paycheck that I need to see.

Once that check is signed, just tell me the date, and I'm going to be there. So that's how this came about. Yeah, yeah, and obviously this one is going to be in France. You know, it's a good fight. I know, I Elias Jeroon is a good fighter, PFL experience. But again, it sounds like none of that really mattered. Yeah, it didn't matter. I mean, the only thing I always said to me is, look, I don't want to fight no shadebacks.

Because, you know, I've had a lot of promoters reaching out to me saying, look, I, Jim, we're going to give you, you know, two or three handy fights. We're going to build it up, and then big main event. I don't want that. That's not for me. You know, I train hard, and this is, you know, it's like my legacy. You know, I never have taken an easy fight. I have never taken a fight to fight my record.

I have never taken a favorable fight. I just fight the best. I fight the hardest fight. So this has been my condition. I said, look, guys, I don't care who it is, but it has to be a good fighter. So that's how this came about. Yeah, and I had heard that this is just a one-fight deal, correct?

Yes, correct. It's a one-fight deal. You know, for me, like I said, I'm going to fight for two more years. So I don't want to tie myself into a contract and wait for promoters to find me a favorable matchup or this or that. I want to stay active. I want to be able to take fights. you know, on short notice, I want to be able to take fights across multiple sports

and the main reason is one of the main reasons is I really want the Tuggo fight and I want to be able to accept that shoot that goal come. Yeah, let me ask you about that, Ardum. We have talked about that fight before. I know that's one that has always motivated you ever since the incident happened years ago with Habib and his team and Connor and you guys. Has there ever been a fight? You know, obviously, the Pali Malinagia was a big one.

I know there was a real rivalry there, and you really, really wanted that fight. But has there ever been a fight you've wanted more than Zubera Tuka golf? Definitely not. Definitely not. This is not even one. This is just, this is a must. This is not just a one fight for me. This is a must fight for me.

I will not stop calling this guy out no matter what. So this fight will happen. It's going to happen, and that's it. To me, I mean, now, realistically, he should be cut from the UFC now. I mean, if you look at it, let's look at it objectively. I know a lot of haters are going to come on board now and start saying this and that, but let's look at it realistically. He just came off a two-year ban for steroids.

Right, damn, he misses weight, which Dana absolutely hates. Second, he loses the fight, and not only loses the fight, he runs the whole fight from the guy, doesn't even engage in fighting. I mean, let's be honest, for half of those things, Dana would catch you in a split of a second. So this guy's staying in the U.S.C., if he doesn't end up saying, this is only the... thanks to Habit. Other than that, this guy should be cut, and if I'm honest, he should just leave himself on his own terms, and let's get our fight done. Let's set it up. I'm busy December 12th, but December 13th, I'm ready to go. And I know ultimately it is a business for you,

Arndham. You are in it, as you mentioned. As long as they're paying you the paycheck you want, you're happy to box, bare knuckle, MMA, but this is a fight you've literally gone on the record and said you would do for free. Yes, absolutely. I will do it for free. And if any money, comes my way, I will be donating every single cent to a children's charity. I want to donate it to an orphanage. I love it. That's a great idea. And I know, you know, obviously, you know, Connor brought that up recently with the charity card he was trying to put together, which, by the way, bad timing. You try to put it on the day you're fighting. Come on, Connor. He's got a no better date than that. I don't mind, you know, and especially that was going to be a charity event. I'm all

for it. You know, there is no bad time for charity. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. But with that being said, you know, that is a fight that is more personal. It's not business. It is more personal. Is that safe to say? Absolutely. It's very personal.

It's not more personal. It's all personal. And that's why, because there's been so much badness coming out of that whole thing with Habib's theme, so I would like something good to come out of it. That's why I want to donate the money to an orphanage. Yeah, I love that idea. I love that idea. With that being said, Artem, you know, I know that, you know,

again, this year's been kind of insane. I had talked to Dave Feldman over at BKFC, maybe a month ago, you know, and obviously I asked him about you, and of course he said, you know, of course we want to get Arden's back. We love Arden and we want him to fight for us again. As you said, it's more about dollars than since than anything else, but is there a part of you, heart or hearts before it's all said and done?

Do you believe you will return to Barrettuckle at some point? Yeah, I mean, definitely. I mean, look at it. You know, they've had some big, you know, signings. They have some good fighters there, but still, nothing, nothing compared to what I have created for these guys. So if they want to go really big, they know who to call. Do you feel like the trilogy with Jason Knight is a fight that just has to happen,

considering how much, I mean, it feels like the attention for that fight would be huge right now. Yeah, I would like to close the chapter off as well. You know, Jason is a great fighter. You know, we had two absolute wars with him, and we have to put a dot in that sentence. You know, we have to finish off that book. So let's do a third one, and that's it. And I feel it's going to be one of those classic bare-knuckle fights that people might look at, you know, 100 years down the line.

And so, yeah, let's get it finished, you know. Let's not leave any questions and answer it. Yeah. You've obviously done a lot in your career, Ardum, in terms of, you know, between the ultimate fighter and UFC and all the other things you've done. But do you feel like in a way, and I don't want to tell you, I don't want to, you know, completely discount what BKFC has done,

but do you feel like you're a guy? you know, who really put Baruncle on the map with your first fight with Jason, the Polly Malinazi fight, the second fight with Jason, like three fights in Bear Nuckle, like you, again, I don't want to take away credit from any of the other fighters, you know what I mean, I'm not doing that, but do you feel like in a big way, you're kind of the fighter that helped put that sport on the map? Yeah, I mean, it's not even about taking credit away. It's not about it's just fact, you know what I mean?

And as Ben Shapiro says, facts don't care about your feelings, and this is just a fact. Without me, nobody knew about that sport. When I fought there, that first fight with Jason, the sport was on the map. And that fight with Polly, you know, put it even more so on the map. And now there's bare knuckle events everywhere. I've seen Russia is doing crazy bare-knuckle events. I mean, the sport has exploded. And BAKC are doing great things, of course, with it as well.

So, yeah, definitely. You know, I remember talking to you before the Pauley-Maliannazzi fight. You had told me back then you said, you know, Bear knuckle is a different animal, and I use that quote all the time. Bear knuckle is a different animal than other sports, and you warned Polly about that as a boxer coming in, and now we're seeing more and more fighters go into Bearknuckle. I'm sure you saw the news, of course, Paige Van Zana is doing it. Tiago Alva's just had a fight recently.

Are you surprised, or are you kind of watching, you know, optimistically hoping these fighters understand what they're getting themselves into? Because it is a much different animal. I steal your quote constantly ardent. It is a different animal in that sport. It absolutely is And I mean Farly proof to that is

Well number one I bet a world boxing champion in it And the second proof is Have you seen Julian Lane fight versus Diego Almas? I mean let's be honest If that fight took place in MMA Tiago It would have been quite one-sided towards

But there it was a very even fight It was a very very 50-fifty fight Because this is a different animal This is a completely different sport Yeah absolutely Were you surprised to see somebody like Pagevan Zang to burn uncle? Yeah, I was a little bit surprised, but I was good surprise.

You know, I mean, respect to her, why not? You know, she wants to challenge herself, and she has a point to prove, you know, and, you know, I'm happy to see her there. Yeah. The other, not too long ago, Artem, you talk about the business side of fighting, and you mentioned how it all comes down to business. You put out a tweet recently where you were talking about, you know, things that fighters need to look for in contracts.

And I love that so much, and it got a lot of attention. You know, we've seen other fighters. coming on talking about that. Kind of give me an idea, like, what do you feel like is the right and the wrong side of contracts that have it in mixed martial arts, or any combat sport for that matter? Because I thought your points were extremely good,

and I think more fighters should pay attention to that. Yeah, absolutely. The three points that I mentioned, they are the crucial points. And they're like the basic rights. Because right now, the way it is, this is not a contract. This is just a one-sided contract. You know what I mean? Where a promotion can cut you at any way.

point with no additional cost. So what kind of contract is that? So you're not allowed to fight anywhere else. You have to wait for them to give you fights. But then if they want they decide to just let you go, they can just do it and there's no cost, there's no nothing there. How is that possible? That's number one. And the second thing is where they sign you, they don't guarantee you a certain amount of fights. You know, this is your job. So you need to know how much you're going to earn. You know, you know exactly how much you're going to earn per year, more or less. You know, anybody has a salary, they know what they're going to earn in a year. But fighters don't.

You're hoping for the best. So how is that fair? That's not fair. You should know exactly how many fights you will be getting per year. And if you don't get the number of those fights, then you'll be getting compensated. So you can plan your future. You can plan your family's project. It's so, so, so important.

Yeah, absolutely. And I know you talked about the win and show money. That's one of the things that drives me craziest in this sport is the whole show and win money idea. I don't think they're getting anything. out of it more than, you know, you're basically taking half a paycheck away. Absolutely. I mean, whoever came up with it, yeah, that was a great idea

from remote point of view. But in reality, there is no way. I mean, how can you justify it? The result of my fight does not affect the profit for that event. Tickets are already sold, paper views are already sold. Where I win

or I lose, it's already done. So why should it affect my pay? Why should I take only half pay home? You know, that's absolutely crazy. My expenses don't change. The camp is already done. So why should I just take half? I should know exactly how much I will be making.

So that's a very, very crucial point as well. That's why I said, you know, I wanted to, because there's been many people that came in and some people had some valid points as well. Some people had some stupid points as well. But I didn't want it to take away from this because the three points that I mentioned are very fair, are very reasonable to ask for

and are very, very much doable and will give you security. You know, they're so, so important. They should be the standard. You shouldn't even ask for it in a contract. That should just be there, and that's it. Yeah. So, Artem, you said you got two years left of fighting when you're done. When are you going into management?

When are you going to go into negotiations for other fighters? I feel like you've got a future in it. Yeah, I'm not sure about management. I mean, I certainly would like to be involved in some business ventures. that's for sure and I'm at the moment working very hard on setting myself up for that but I'm not one hundred sure it will be fight management you know because to me you know I was a fighter myself so it's going to be very hard for me to charge this fighters you know so I'll end up being broke the whole time and looking after this fighter yeah the result I probably will

not be pursuing that that avenue because even now I have fighters reach out to me all the time asking me you know to help them get fight somewhere asking me for this, that, or the other. And I always try and help them, and I never charge them anything, you know, because I know how hard that is to be a fighter. I know how difficult there is. I know how very little money there is. So, you know, it's going to be very hard for me to be a manager, I feel.

Yeah, no, I understand that totally. I understand that totally. Now, again, I don't want to take the attention away from your upcoming fight. Of course, in December, December 12th Arena fight, great fight. I'm looking forward to that. But considering the way this year has played out, Arndham, how busy do you hope to be in 2021? Because at this point, we're only a few months away now.

Yeah, so I'm hoping you just said how busy I'm hoping to be. So I was saying that back in the day, someone actually calculated for me, and they said that I used to fight on average every 41 days. So I'm hoping to be just as busy as that. And Artem, I really appreciate doing this. I really appreciate taking the time. Obviously, have a good training camp. Have a good fight in December.

And hopefully we can catch up afterwards. Thank you so much. and always a pleasure talking to you. We appreciate the time. Talk to you soon. Thank you so much. Bye-bye. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.