Artem Lobov has become a cult figure in the UFC after popping up on the radar as Conor McGregor's training partner. The Irish-Russian fighter was not for having big power and keeping things ‘flowy.'
Conor McGregor pushed hard for him to get a spot on The Ultimate Fighter and Artem Lobov became a fan favorite. His time in the UFC was a very fun one, even if he didn't achieve what he thought he would.
“When I retired I finally had to come to this point where I had to say to myself ‘you will not achieve those goals, it will not happen for you, you were not good enough, you didn’t manage to get where you wanted to get,” Lobov said on The MMA Hour. “This is your time to hang it up Artem. Bye-bye.’ That’s why it was an emotional time. I wasn’t really ready yet.”
The former UFC fighter was brutally honest when looking back on his career. Most fighters will never admit that they weren't able to achieve their goals.
Artem Lobov had spoken about that subject in an interview in the past. He compared his UFC career to that of a soccer team.
“If you look at soccer, you will see more than half the teams have a losing record but every time they play the stadium is full. I don’t believe in undefeated records because losing is part of reality,” Lobov said on a past episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “In real life, you lose a lot of the time but you need to keep going… When I come to fight they know what to expect, it will be violent, I will march forward, be aggressive, and throw bombs. This is an entertainment business and I provide it more than most.”
Artem Lobov will be remembered as a fun addition to the UFC roster. Fans still refer to him as ‘The GOAT.'
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