Artem Lobov believes he should be cut from the UFC, discusses other options in combat sports

Having lost his last two fights – back to back decisions losses to Cub Swanson and Andre Fili – Artem Lobov now feels that he deserves to be cut from the UFC.

“Now that I have lost to Fili — and this is no disrespect to him — but now with two losses in a row, and the last loss was not exactly to the best guy out there, I feel like other people in my situation would be cut,” Lobov told Peter Carroll of MMAFighting.com. “If someone didn’t deserve to be in the UFC, in the past I was always the first guy to tell them, so now I feel like I don’t really deserve a UFC contract.

“It’s only fair that I get cut as well.”

While Lobov will understand if the UFC sends him packing, he doesn’t plan on hanging up the gloves. The Russian-born Irishman and Conor McGregor stablemate is considering a move to both boxing and kickboxing.

“It’s not just boxing I’m considering, it’s K-1 too. That’s something I’ve always liked,” he said. “When I first fought in K-1, I knocked out a guy in two minutes. That’s something that might appeal to me too.”

Whatever the case, Lobov is just hoping to stay more active going forward. Two fights a year, in his eyes, is not enough.

“I’ve said what I said about the UFC, but another thing is, I really want to fight as much as I possibly can. This two fights a year thing, that’s not for me,” he said.

“I want to stay busy because that’s when I feel I improve the most. I feel I have the necessary skills to compete with the best, I wouldn’t have even aimed for the UFC if I didn’t think I did.

If Artem Lobov leaves the UFC, where would you like to see him fight?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/11/2017.