Artem Lobov believes that the biggest Rematch in MMA history could be made in 2026.
The old training partner of Conor McGregor looked from Cageside while the Irishman was suffocated in October 2018 by Khabib Nurmagomedov on UFC 229.
The 29-0 Russian killed Rematch Talk when he retired after he defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020.
Five years later, 'The Eagle' did not show an interest in making a comeback. Yet Artem Lobov believes that Khabib Nurmagomedov would make the chance to face his greatest rival if he was completely fit and was back to his best after years of inactivity.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Artem Lobov talks Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov 2
McGregor did not fight since breaking his leg during a trilogy against Dustin Poirier on UFC 264 in July 2021.
His career as a top MMA hunter, however, almost ended when he crossed to boxing for a $ 100 million fight with Floyd Mayweather.
Eight years later, McGregor did not show any signs that he can revive his UFC career.
Lobov insists that if he can, a huge rematch with Nurmagomedov will soon become a possibility.
“I would like to see him come back because I have the feeling that if he is 100 percent, we could also bring Khabib back,” he told Ariel Helwani.
“I think Khabib would come back before that fight if Conor was 100 percent fit and would make real movements.
“He only needed one fight. Save the man out, and then the whole world will talk to Khabib and let him come back.
“That would be a real comeback fight. That would be a fight for the centuries.”
Conor McGregor hardly trained for UFC 229
McGregor's ex-teammate described the 'wrong mindset' that the UFC superster had before fought against Nurmagomedov.
Lobov, who is currently arguing with McGregor about a failed business deal, claims that his former friend has only trained twice a week for the greatest fight of his life.
“I know that fighting opposite Conor is disturbed because he did not train at all for that fight,” Lobov explained.
“He was training for Khabib twice a week. I tried to bring him to it [Las Vegas] And said: “We have to do this,” and he said I had to do it, he just didn't want to do it.
“He was in the wrong mentality, the party mentality. Training twice a week and that's it. So when I saw the fight, I had something like” Oh my God, if you only trained four times a week, you would probably have defeated him. “
“But imagine him in a complete camp and the Conor that fought against Eddie Alvarez. Imagine that Conor against Khabib. That is what I want to see.”