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Triple Take: What should Artem Lobov do now that the Paulie Malignaggi circus is over?

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This past Saturday at Bare Knuckle FC 6, Artem Lobov pulled off a stunning upset win over former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi in the headliner. It was one of the most anticipated fights of the year in all of combat sports, simply because of the boiling hot feud between Lobov and Malignaggi heading into the event. But it’s over, and now Lobov – who couldn’t cut it in the UFC – is 2-0 as a bare-knuckle boxer in BKFC’s two biggest fights. Add to that his cult following because of his association with good friend Conor McGregor, and suddenly Lobov finds himself with options for his career. So what should he do next? MMA Junkie’s Simon Head, Farah Hannoun and Nolan King weigh in for this latest edition of “Triple Take.” 

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Simon Head: Amir Khan, anyone?

Has Artem Lobov’s star ever been brighter than it is right now? After a career spent taking on anyone, anywhere, “The Russian Hammer” now has options. If he wants to fight in MMA again, Rizin seems like a perfect fit, while the World Lethwei Championship would offer him the opportunity to take his bare-knuckle prowess to Asia.

But he’s got a good thing going with the brass at BKFC, and you can bet president David Feldman will be keen to keep Lobov under his promotion’s banner. The big question now is how do you top, or come close to topping, the matchup with Paulie Malignaggi? Because if they can’t, all this media attention is likely to dissipate pretty quickly.

There have been suggestions of a possible rematch with Jason Knight, but with all respect to “Mississippi Mean,” I think Feldman needs to hook another big fish for Lobov in order to keep the BKFC momentum rolling.

Somehow, Feldman has to find an opponent who will bring similar intrigue – but less press conference saliva – as Malignaggi. Artem needs a credible opponent, someone who could bring numbers and initiate more debate and crossover interest.

Step forward, Amir Khan.

The British boxer is a former world champion. He has sublime boxing skills, but he’s also been shown to be vulnerable to a big puncher. He also appears to be someone who’s not averse to making a left-field career decision – just check his upcoming fight with Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat in Saudi Arabia.

The clincher here is the fact that Khan and Lobov already have beef, stemming back to 2017, when Lobov suggested he could follow teammate Conor McGregor into boxing, but only if he took an easy fight against someone like Khan to begin with.

It sparked a Twitter back and forth that saw both men throwing insults at each other. If they were both contracted to the same sport, the clamor for the pair to fight would have started there, but they were poles apart, and the rivalry disappeared into the ether.

Until now, perhaps.

I reckon if there’s a big-name boxer who could potentially be persuaded to face Lobov in the BKFC ring, it’s Khan. But ultimately, it’ll be down to Feldman and his bank manager to work out whether they can throw enough money at Khan to persuade him to throw down under bare-knuckle rules.

Next page – Farah Hannoun: Be the face of BKFC and fight whomever he chooses 

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