Artem Lobov likes the signing of former UFC flyweight Paige VanZant to BKFC as he believes it could lead to more lucrative oppertuinies for himself.
“Paige as a fighter, she’s a tough girl,” Lobov told MMANews. “Of course, it’s a much bigger risk for her than it is for me. I mean, let’s face it, I don’t really have much to lose in terms of looks. If anything is going to probably make me better looking than her. Of course, she can probably have a very successful career in modeling if she wanted to. And for her to commit to bare-knuckle, it’s not an easy decision. I take my hat off to her, and it’s great to see her in the sport. It’s only going to put more eyes on this great sport and it’s only going to make the sport bigger. In turn, it’s only going to make my paydays bigger. So thank you Paige for signing, welcome to the team. I look forward to watching her fight.”
Lobov (14-15-1) won’t be returning to the BKFC cage next as he’s scheduled to fight in MMA against Ylies Djiroun (17-6) at ARENA FIGHT 2 in France on December 12. The SBG Ireland product hasn’t fought since a BKFC bout against Jason Knight in Nov. 2019 where he lost via fifth round TKO.
For this fight, the 34-year-old says he’s been compensated well for the matchup and signed just a one-fight contract.
“AFC, they’re a new promotion in France,” Lobov explained. “As you know, MMA in France was illegal up until now. Of course, there’s a lot of interest and a lot of big investors. If you want to launch your promotion the right way, there’s no better way to do it then with me as your headliner.”
Lobov added. “They wanted to give me a four fight deal originally, but I just said, Look, guys, you’re a new promotion, I’ve so far heard only good things about you. But at the same time, I would like to find out for myself. You don’t really know until you fight for somebody what it’s really like. I (signed) this one fight deal. We’ll see what happens next. I mean, so far, the guys have been very professional. They pay well. It’s looking good so far, but after the fight, we’ll see.”
Arena Fighting Championship takes place December 12 in Marsiglia, France. Currently, no other matchups have been added to the card.
