– Paul Dollery reports from Las Vegas
FEW ARE BETTER placed to comment on Conor McGregor’s abilities than Artem Lobov.
The Russian-born Irish fighter is McGregor’s main sparring partner and has played a key role in his training camp for tomorrow night’s interim UFC featherweight title bout against Chad Mendes.
We spoke to Lobov here in Las Vegas as McGregor aims to clinch UFC gold at the expense of his American opponent in the main event at UFC 189 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
According to Lobov, McGregor is an even better fighter now than the one who dismantled Dennis Siver back in January: “Trust me. I know first-hand from the sparring sessions. There’s more power, more speed… more of everything, really.”
Lobov has no concerns about McGregor’s wrestling ability and believes it’ll be a tough night for Mendes, who he doesn’t expect to survive the first round: “I honestly believe that it’s going to be a first-round KO. I’ll be very, very surprised if it goes into the second round.”
Watch the full interview below…