Artem Lobov was slapped by Paulie Malignaggi yesterday during a Bare Knuckle FC media event in Biloxi and afterwards the MMA fighter spoke to the media about what had just transpired.
“He himself was saying, no, no, no,” Lobov told MMAFighting.com. “And then he just got a little cheap shot in. That’s the only way he can f*cking get hands on me, a cheap shot. But whatever. F*ck it. Does he think that’s gonna upset me? I’m a f*cking fighter. I walk through head kicks, you think I’m gonna give a f*ck about that? Whatever, brush it off, move on. Let’s go, let’s see what you got when we actually square off in the ring.”
During the altercation Lobov appeared to partially land a kick in retaliation while being pushed away by others in attendance, but he says that the reality is he doesn’t really want to lay a finger on his rival until they step into the ring together.
“I need Paulie,” Lobov said. “I need him wrapped up in bubble wrap. I need him there on June 22, that’s when the provisional date has been set. That’s when I need him. That’s when we get to go at it. Then, we’ll see what happens.”
If and when the two do get into the ring together, Lobov doesn’t feel he has anything to fear from the former boxing champion.
“Let’s look at the facts,” Lobov said. “Look at his fights. Who did he do damage to other than himself? He is a jabber. He just jabs, jabs, jabs, jabs. That’s all he ever f*cking does. He didn’t put guys away, ever. He has no knockout power, his hands are fragile, always f*cking broken. He’s old now and fat and lazy. The only reason he’s coming back is because he’s broke as f*ck. So what is there to fear? That’s it — nothing.”
However, before that fight can happen Lobov will have to successfully navigate past former UFC fighter Jason Knight, who he goes up against in a bare knuckle boxing match this Saturday in the Bare Knuckle FC promotion.
