The time is almost upon us and Artem Lobov will fight Paulie Malignaggi in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., June 22, 2019) Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) 6 from Tampa, Florida.
The fight is, without doubt, the biggest in the young history of BKFC. And you could even argue it’s one of the most awaited bouts of 2019 in all combat sports so far. How that paints a picture of an overall indictment on the state of combat sports is another lengthy discussion for a different time.
Regardless, Lobov vs. Malignaggi is a massive bare-knuckle affair, mainly because of the grotesque pre-fight trash talk involved. There’s also the matter, of course, of Malignaggi’s clear attempt to book an unlikely match-up with Lobov’s close friend Conor McGregor after this bout. The rivals met up in the final press event for this weekend’s fight earlier today. There, Lobov said he was done with talk before talking some more smack.
The press conference ended with the traditional staredown between the hated foes. Security was expectedly tight, and things got a little uptight when BKFC President David Feldman attempted to get both fighters to turn and face the media. Neither agreed after two requests until Malignaggi turned to face the media. Check out the BKFC 6 staredown courtesy of MMA Junkie below:
