Artem Lobov wants one-fight deal to face Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC Dublin

Artem Lobov may have moved on from the UFC but he hasn’t forgotten about Zubaira Tukhugov.

The two were scheduled to fight in October 2018, but Tukhugov was forced off due to his involvement in the infamous UFC 229 post-fight melee.

The beef between SBG Ireland and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team, which includes Tukhugov, is still ongoing. But Lobov has yet to get the opportunity to settle things Tukhugov.

Since departing from the UFC, Lobov has competed in bare knuckle boxing three times and now is a free agent. Speaking to The Mac Life, Lobov revealed he almost finalized a bout with Polish MMA promotion KSW, but it didn’t materialize due to the coronavirus outbreak.

He has also been in talks with Dada 5000’s bare knuckle promotion, BYB Extreme, but with the UFC set to return to Dublin on Aug. 15, Lobov thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to finally get his hands on Tukhugov.

“I definitely would want to do that,” Lobov said. “People talk about me fighting Zubaira. I’m still very much interested in that fight, still going to donate every single dollar from that fight to charity, and it would be good to do it in Dublin. All I would ask, I would love for just a one-fight deal. Like I said to the UFC is that I’m not going to be making any money off of this. This is not (about) money. For me, this is a fight that has to happen. I would just come in for a one-fight deal in Dublin, Ireland.

“It would make a lot of sense for them to have me on – on that card, and that’s it. One fight. I come in, we help the charity out, they get loads of money, so that’s good. They get a good fight for UFC Dublin and we get to settle our differences with Zubaira in the octagon. So I would certainly be interested in that.”

With Lobov sharpening his hands competing in bare knuckle boxing, which included a win over multiple-time boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi, he’s curious to see the developments in his game in a return to MMA.

But Lobov, who’s keeping his options open, is not done competing in bare knuckle boxing and also intends on giving pro boxing a try.

“The reason I say just one-fight deal is that I’m very, very keen and very set on competing in pro boxing, in bare-knuckle boxing, and in MMA,” Lobov said. “And obviously if I’m signed to UFC exclusively, I understand – it’s such a big promotion that this would just not work.”

Lobov last competed in the octagon at UFC Fight Night 138 in 2018, where he lost a unanimous decision to Michael Johnson. He has lost his last three MMA fights.