Artem Lobov recently competed at UFC Fight Night Gdansk and suffered a unanimous decision loss to Andre Fili.
Shortly after the bout, the fighter took to Twitter and he suggested that he may be retiring from the sport:
Not sure what the future holds dont want to be retiring & coming back a thousand times. Will think about the futue & update.Thank u all --------
— Artem Lobov (@RusHammerMMA) October 21, 2017
Lobov then did an interview with BT Sport and suggested that he wants to get out of his UFC contract so he can try his hand as a professional boxer.
“I wouldn’t mind chancing my arm in boxing. I do know I have a contract with the UFC,” he said. “I’ll talk to them. I’ll ask them, would they release me maybe, and allow me to take a few boxing fights?”
If Lobov were granted his request, then he would be joining fellow training partner and current UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor into the sport.
McGregor made his pro boxing debut earlier this year against Floyd Mayweather and he suffered a tenth round TKO defeat.
Assuming Lobov does get his wish and enter pro boxing, there is already an opponent he has in mind to step into the ring against.
“Paulie (Malignaggi) wouldn’t be a bad fight. I know he’s after big paydays. He’s retired, so he might not be interested in a fight against me, but if he was I would be all for it,” says Lobov.
Thus far, the UFC has yet to grant Lobov’s release and Malignaggi has also yet to respond to the challenge from the UFC star.
