Artem Lobov says ‘focused’ Conor McGregor deserves Khabib rematch, confident he’d dethrone the champ

Artem Lobov believes his teammate and friend, Conor McGregor deserves the chance to rematch Khabib Nurmagomedov.

McGregor and Nurmagomedov fought back at UFC 229 where the lead up to the fight was intense. The rivalry was heated and after the submission win by Nurmagomedov, a post-fight melee took place.

Since the loss, McGregor says the camp was not good and he wasn’t focused. He returned at UFC 246 where he TKO’d Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds. For Lobov, he says the Irishman is as focused and motivated as ever.

So, with McGregor being a star and showing he is focused again, Lobov believes the rematch is the only fight that makes sense for the Irishman.

“To be honest, I just want to see Conor fight the winner of Tony and Khabib, which makes more sense than Gaethje. There is always going to be someone talking. But, when you are in the position of Conor and has done what he has done, you don’t need to prove anything,” Lobov said to BJPENN.com. “For him, he should just fight the best guy every time. They wanted him to have a fight before and he had one against ‘Cowboy’ and finished that in 40 seconds. That’s it. From now on he needs to fight the best guy only.”

Image credit: @ufc on Instagram (photographer not listed)

Although many believe if Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov do a rematch, the result will not change.

Yet, Lobov says the third round proved the Irishman has what it takes to stuff the takedowns. He also knows McGregor is better in rematches so SBG Ireland is confident they’d be the one to hand Nurmagomedov a loss.

“I think if you look at when Conor lost to Diaz he made the necessary changed and dominated that fight with three knockdowns. He overcame the issues he had. You have to give the rematch to Conor,” he explained. “It won’t be an easy fight but it will be a win for him. Look at round three, Khabib wasn’t able to score any takedowns. Look at how good Conor did, you have never seen any fighter do that. There are clear reasons, now that he’s focused, with another training camp for Khabib that he will win.”

For the rematch to even happen, Nurmagomedov will need to get past Tony Ferguson on April 18. After that, perhaps we do see McGregor-Nurmagomedov 2.

What do you make of Artem Lobov saying Conor McGregor deserves the rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/26/2020.