SBG Ireland’s Artem Lobov talks about the potential fight between Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson.
While it’s far from a done deal, it’s looking like Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon fight Tony Ferguson in a title unification bout in the coming months.
The two lightweight standouts recently went at it on social media, and McGregor’s teammate, Artem Lobov, believes that Ferguson’ is ‘next’.
“I think Tony is next,” Lobov told Peter Carroll of MMA Fighting in a recent interview.
“The only reason why I say that is it was unclear who was next for the title shot. There was Khabib, there was Tony and then Kevin Lee stood up.”
Ferguson, who is now on a ten-fight win streak, submitted Kevin Lee earlier this month to become the promotion’s first ever interim lightweight champion.
McGregor, the official 155-pound champ, captured the title when he outclassed and TKO’d Eddie Alvarez last year at UFC 205.
Lobov, who is gearing up to face Andre Fili at UFC Gdansk, respects Ferguson as a fighter but doesn’t think he’s ‘tough enough’ to go the distance with ‘The Notorious’.
‘The Russian Hammer’ compared Ferguson to McGregor rival Nate Diaz, claiming that ‘El Cucuy’ isn’t as tough as Stockton’s fan favorite.
“I feel that same as Roddy. We saw him being rocked by Vannata,” Lobov said of Ferguson. “It’s not that he’s not tough – he is – but he’s not as tough as Diaz. I don’t think he’s tough enough to last with Conor. He will get hit.
“In fact, I don’t think there is anyone as tough as Diaz out there who can take those shots at any weight, really.
“I think it’s going to be a very quick night against Ferguson.”
Diaz, of course, became the first man to beat McGregor under the UFC banner, submitting the Irishman in their first welterweight tilt at UFC 196 but losing via majority decision in last year’s epic rematch.
McGregor’s coach, Owen Roddy, said that McGregor is back in the gym and could even start training camp for the Ferguson fight in the coming days.
Lobov, 31, squares off with Fili at UFC Fight Night 118 this Saturday , Oct. 21 at Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland.