Artem Lobov calls for fight with Jose Aldo

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 212, once-dominant UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo had his throne usurped by young Hawaiian star Max Holloway, as he wilted under a swarm of third-round punches. With this outcome, Aldo finds himself at a relatively unfamiliar juncture, no longer a champion but a contender in the crowded UFC featherweight division.

From here, it’s difficult to say who Aldo should fight next – if he even stays at featherweight. There are of course, plenty of interesting options in that regard.

As the UFC’s matchmaking team begins to consider the options for Jose Aldo’s next fight, ever-entertaining Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov has attempted to make their jobs a little easier by calling for a fight with the former champ. In this callout, Lobov pointed out that, as McGregor’s main training partner, he is probably as close as Aldo will get to a rematch with McGregor – something the former champion has wanted since he was knocked out by McGregor in late 2015.

See Lobov’s surprisingly respectful callout of Aldo below:

Dont mean 2 kick u while ur down,but realistically I am as close to Conor as u could get. Forget everything and lets do it! It’be an honour

— Artem Lobov (@RusHammerMMA) June 7, 2017

“Don’t mean to kick you while you’re down, but realistically I am as close to Conor as you could get,” Lobov said. “Forget everything and let’s do it. It’d be an honor.” 

While Lobov’s callout of Aldo is certainly a long shot, it’s worth noting that he has talked his way into big fights in the past. In his last outing, he earned himself a fight with the UFC’s fourth-ranked featherweight Cub Swanson, despite not being ranked himself. And while many believed this was a chance he didn’t deserve, he proved his skill by hanging in there with Swanson for five, wild rounds. So while this callout of Aldo will probably go unanswered, you just never know.

How do you think Artem Lobov would do against Jose Aldo?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/7/2017.