Artem Lobov says Conor McGregor will fight again

Last week, Conor McGregor announced his shocking retirement from MMA. The Irishman made the announcement on Twitter, but immediately fans and fighters alike didn’t believe it.

Well, now McGregor’s friend and training partner in Artem Lobov says ‘The Notorious” will fight again.

“I don’t actually know much info on that but one thing I do know, I know that Conor absolutely loves the fight game,” Lobov said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (transcript via MMAFighting). He truly loves it. Look, I always say this: 99 percent of people in the UFC would be gone if they have made $100 million. They just wouldn’t be there anymore and he’s still there. Why? Because he loves the fight game. He loves fighting. So I know he’s got something special in store for us, that’s for sure.”

Although McGregor says he is retired, Lobov is convinced the former two-division champion will return to the Octagon.

“I think [he will fight again],” Lobov said. “I think he will definitely put away a few more guys. I just know him. I know he loves this game. He loves the fight game and this is not just a job to him. This is him. He is the fight game.”

Part of the reason why McGregor retired was the fact that the UFC would not give him a share in the company. However, ‘The Russian Hammer’ believes McGregor is a major reason why the UFC is as big as it is and that he deserves a part in the company.

“The thing is, it’s a business,” Lobov explained. “They’re fighting for every percentage there because when it comes down to Conor’s fights, even one percent means millions and millions and millions. In my eyes, of course he deserves a percentage of the UFC. His last fight was two and half million and that same year there was a pay-per-view card with 80,000 PPVs sold. That speaks for itself. He is the reason why the company was sold for $4 billion so why shouldn’t he get a piece of that?

“For anybody who says, ‘Then everyone will ask for that,’ no they won’t, because you tell them, ‘Show me your numbers. Show me what you bring in.’ You get a piece of the pie that you bring in. If you arrive with a bag of peanuts, then you can’t expect to eat a steak. But if you are killing a whole deer like Conor is then of course you deserve a nice, juicy piece of steak and he should get it.”

Do you agree with Artem Lobov that Conor McGregor will fight again?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 4/2/2019.