UFC hopeful Artem Lobov answers the Ultimate Eight

Artem Lobov (left) in action (Brandon Magnus/ Zuffa)

Artem Lobov is a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber, and returned to the show in style this week when he knocked out James Jenkins to boost his chances of earning a UFC contract.

A regular fixture on the European MMA scene, Lobov was once known as the Prospect Killer after establishing a reputation for defeating much-heralded opponents, but is now nicknamed the Russian Hammer as a result of his fearsome punching power.

Born in Russia, Lobov moved to Ireland in his mid-teens after two years in Argentina and is known worldwide as Conor McGregor’s chief sparring partner.

The UFC hopeful has two degrees from Dublin City University, but faced his toughest questions in the Ultimate Eight.

Why were you so successful in your Ultimate Fighter return over James Jenkins?

I was very confident and as soon as the fight started I could feel that I was a lot faster than him and I could hit him whenever I wanted to. Up until this point I was the guy in the house who lost his fight and I definitely didn’t want to be that guy no more.

It was important for me to get this win and to prove to everybody in the house that I belonged in there. And what a better way to do it than with an impressive first round knockout.

How did you get into MMA?

I first started training in Ireland when I was 21-years-old. It was completely new to me as I hadn’t done any martial arts as a kid except for a couple of karate classes. I saw an advert at university so I decided to try a class and it all started from there.

You had your first amateur fight in October 2010 against Stephen Kingsbury. Talk us through your memories of that moment.

It was in Derry and I was on the same card as Conor McGregor. This was my first fight and it was Conor’s comeback fight after taking a year off. Both of us got the win, me by Kimura in the third round and he stopped his opponent by TKO.

Surprisingly I was very relaxed even back then and it was something that my coach mentioned to me at the time considering it was my first fight. The main reason I’m in there is because I truly love fighting, so why wouldn’t I be relaxed when I’m doing something I enjoy so much.

Why do you love fighting?

It is the one place where when you’re in that cage there are no wars or financial crisis or global warming. You don’t care about anything, you just relax and enjoy the moment. That’s what I really like.

How do you like to relax when you’re not competing?

To be honest we spend a lot of the time training, and we don’t really do camps. When I do have some spare time I just like to meet my friends, go to the cinema and just do normal stuff.

I like a lot of TV shows like the Office, Game of Thrones. I haven’t seen a Russian film or TV show in a very long time but I speak the language with my mum, step dad and little sister as they are here in Ireland as well.

What is the best MMA fight of all time?

That’s a very hard question! I couldn’t tell you the greatest one that I’ve seen, but I can tell you my favourite fighter of all time is Fedor Emelianenko so any of his fights I really enjoy.

With the exception of beating people up for a living, what is your greatest skill in life?

I did ballroom dancing for five years so you could say I’m not a bad mover. I think footwork is huge in MMA, it’s what closes the distance and gets you in range and it is also what gets you out of range. Footwork is very important, and who moves their feet better than a dancer? Nobody.

You are currently helping Conor McGregor prepare for his December 12th clash with Jose Aldo. What is your prediction for the bout?

Aldo has his chance to fight Conor when Conor was injured in July but he missed out on that opportunity. He loses in one round.

Catch The Ultimate Fighter at 3am GMT every Thursday morning on BT Sport (part of the Setanta pack in Ireland). Repeated at 10pm GMT on Thursdays.