IT PROVED A tough night for Artem Lobov as he struggled to impose himself against Alex White at UFC Fight Night 82, eventually going down on a unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The 29-year-old Russian-born fighter, who trains at John Kavanagh’s Straight Blast Gym and counts Conor McGregor as a sparring partner, suffered through a litany of punches and take-downs by White, who opened up Lobov just below the eye at one stage.
Constantly looking for an opportunity to unleash his thunderous right hand but was left frustrated by the 27-year-old American, who was back after a 14-month layoff. It was a much-needed victory for White following back-to-back defeats and he’s moved to 2-2 in the UFC.
White claimed all three rounds of the preliminary card featherweight bout, scoring 30-27 from each judge.
It was another disappointing Vegas experience for Lobov.
In December, he came up short against Ryan Hall in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 22 at The Cosmopolitan and subsequently faced an anxious wait to see whether he’d be granted another chance on the UFC stage.
