By EssentiallySports

Copyright yardbarker

“But anyway, that’s what he was doing. Then I got to ask him about it in an interview with a Russian outlet, and I said, ‘Listen, I couldn’t just ignore it because he was calling Conor chicken, which in Russia is a very severe insult to a man,’” Lobov added.

Lobov witnessed the entire Khabib–Conor saga from its very beginning all the way to the UFC 229 post-fight brawl. Initially, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov appeared to share a cordial relationship when the Irishman competed at 145 pounds, with the Irishman even calling Khabib the “future champion” of the lightweight division. However, tensions escalated when McGregor moved up to the lightweight ranks, eventually leading ‘The Eagle’ to label ‘the Notorious’ a “chicken” and threaten to “smash” him.

Artem Lobov later criticized Khabib Nurmagomedov in an interview about his habit of pulling out of fights, calling him “chicken” instead. This confrontation led the Russian star and his team to surround Lobov in a hotel lobby in Brooklyn and slap him. Following the incident, Lobov, along with his Irish friends, confronted ‘Team Khabib’ at New York’s Barclays Center during UFC 223 media day.

Where do Artem Lobov and Conor McGregor stand today?

Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov were once inseparable, like brothers from different mothers, willing to go to any lengths for each other. However, over time, money drove a wedge between them, and now they stand worlds apart. Consequently, they no longer meet in the octagon or training camps—they face each other in court, where Lobov has filed a lawsuit against ‘The Notorious’. He claims a 5% share of the proceeds from the sale of McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve whiskey brand.

A trial date is set for December. Despite their ongoing feud, Lobov still speaks fondly of his former “brother.” Looking back and comparing those days with the present, he told Ariel Helwani: “Obviously, things are not good between me and Conor,” Lobov explained. “We always had each other’s back. I feel like I showed him unmatched loyalty, I would dare for him to name anyone from all of his mates now, before whenever, who was more loyal to him than I was. I did everything for him,” Lobov continued. “Whenever we would do camps, I was the only one to never accept a cent from him.”

Despite their shared history, the two fighters still don’t see eye to eye, and the future of Conor McGregor and Artem Lobov remains uncertain. With both still active in the fight business, their paths could very well cross again. What do you think?