Artem Lobov Wants To Fight Paulie Malignaggi 'Sometime Down The Line' In Bare Knuckle FC

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Artem Lobov makes his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut against fellow debutant and ex-UFC fighter Jason Knight on April 6, but he already has his eye on a future opponent.

“The Russian Hammer” signed a three-fight contract with Bare Knuckle FC shortly after his UFC release. Despite the upcoming bout against Knight, Lobov has already set his sights on former professional boxer Paulie Malignaggi.

Malignaggi officially signed with the promotion earlier this month and the pair have traded barbs over social media. “Magic Man” helped Lobov’s teammate Conor McGregor train for his high-profile boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in August 2017. The relationship between Malignaggi and McGregor turned sour when leaked sparring video showed Malignaggi being knocked down by the Irishman.

Lobov claims he hopes Malignaggi is watching on April 6, and is looking to face the former boxer “sometime down the line.”

“April 6th, please tune in and see for yourself, and treat this as a little preview for what I have in store for Paulie Malignaggi,” Lobov told BJPenn.com Radio. This is fight [with Knight], I will burst through this guy, literally. Choo choo, mother---er. The Siberian Express is on its way. So I will burst through this guy April 6th, and then down the line I want Paulie Malignaggi. This is the fight that I’m really after.”

Lobov said he was surprised that Malignaggi actually signed with the promotion believing the talk on social media was just for show and that he was actually shooting for a higher profile bout.

“Honestly, at first I couldn’t believe it,” Lobov said. “I could not believe my luck. I thought I was never gonna get that guy into the ring. I knew he needed money, but I thought he was after proper, big, big pay days, like the Conor fight, which he tried to make happen for many, many years.

“Let’s be honest, there’s no chance of that fight happening. He’s not on the level of Conor. So I thought this guy was just gonna talk and yap around and never really step into the ring. I thought he was done, but I was wrong. Money talks, and we all need to eat. Paulie’s broke, otherwise he wouldn’t be commentating every week for a couple of hundred bucks.

“So he’s back,” Lobov continued. “He’s back in the ring and trust me, this is not the thing he wants to do.”