Lobov Thinks McGregor Should Wait For The Winner Of Khabib vs Tony

Whilst the world of sport has come to a grinding halt all around the world as a result of the coronavirus, the speculation has continued as to who and when Conor McGregor will fight next. Will he fight Justin Gaethje? Will he wait for the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson? These seem like the two most viable fights for the Irishman right now.

You could also throw Nate Diaz into the mix and the fact that UFC 249, where Khabib is set to defend his UFC lightweight title against Tony, is still far from certainty to go ahead, shows that there’s a lot of moving parts still in play.

Before defeating ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 246, McGregor stated that he wanted to treat 2020 like a season and fight three times. If he waits for the winner of Khabib and Ferguson however, he’s going to be in for a long wait for his second fight of the year.

Speaking recently, McGregor said he planned on fighting again soon, with many speculating that he will fight Gaethje at UFC 252 in July. Both John Kavanagh and Owen Roddy have stated that a fight between Conor and Justin excited them.

McGregor’s long term friend and training partner Artem Lobov however, has other ideas. Speaking to BJPenn.com, ‘The Russian Hammer’ said he believes Conor should wait for the winner of Khabib and Ferguson.

“To be honest, I just want to see Conor fight the winner of Tony and Khabib, which makes more sense than Gaethje. There is always going to be someone talking. But, when you are in the position of Conor and has done what he has done, you don’t need to prove anything. For him, he should just fight the best guy every time. They wanted him to have a fight before and he had one against ‘Cowboy’ and finished that in 40 seconds. That’s it. From now on he needs to fight the best guy only.”

And not only does Lobov believe McGregor should wait, he’s confident that the former two division UFC champion will beat Khabib in the rematch.

“I think if you look at when Conor lost to Diaz he made the necessary changed and dominated that fight with three knockdowns. He overcame the issues he had. You have to give the rematch to Conor. It won’t be an easy fight but it will be a win for him. Look at round three, Khabib wasn’t able to score any takedowns. Look at how good Conor did, you have never seen any fighter do that. There are clear reasons, now that he’s focused, with another training camp for Khabib that he will win.”

Do you think Conor McGregor should fight Justin Gaethje or do you agree with Artem Lobov and think he should wait for the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson?


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