AHEAD OF THEIR respective bouts in Brooklyn this weekend, UFC fighters Khabib Nurmagomedov and Artem Lobov were involved in what appeared to be a fairly heated verbal exchange in the corridor of their hotel last night.
Nurmagomedov features in the headline fight on Saturday’s UFC 223 card. He’ll take on Max Holloway, with the winner to be crowned undisputed lightweight champion. Lobov is set to face Alex Caceres in a featherweight contest on the preliminary portion of the bill.
While it’s unclear what caused the altercation, the common denominator here is likely to have been Conor McGregor. Lobov is a friend and long-time training partner of McGregor’s at Straight Blast Gym in Dublin, while Nurmagomedov and McGregor — who will be relieved of his lightweight title this weekend — are rivals in the 155-pound division.
The footage was captured by Rick Little, who’s in Brooklyn as one of Michael Chiesa’s coaches for his main-card clash with Anthony Pettis.
Nurmagomedov, an undefeated 29-year-old fighter, hails from the Dagestan region of Russia. Lobov, 31, was born in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod but has been a resident of Dublin for the past 15 years.
