Michael Johnson surrenders 20% of purse for weigh-in miss, Artem Lobov vows to return it to him

Originally, Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov was supposed to battle Khabib Nurmagomedov training partner Zubaira Tukhugov in the co-main event of tomorrow night’s UFC Moncton card. After Tukhugov got involved in the infamous UFC 229 post-fight brawl, however, he was pulled from his fight with Lobov.

From there, the UFC began a frantic search to find a short-notice replacement opponent for Artem Lobov. They ultimately landed on former lightweight contender Michael Johnson, who recently picked up a close decision win over Andre Fili in his second featherweight fight.

Unfortunately, having had so little time to prepare for this contest, Johnson missed weight by one pound at Friday mornings weigh-ins. As punishment, he’ll have to surrender 20% of his purse to Lobov.

From the sounds of it, however, he’ll get it back.

While Artem Lobov apparently has to accept this portion of Michael Johnson’s purse, there is nothing stopping him from returning it after the fact. Explaining that he’s grateful for Johnson stepping up on short notice, the Ireland-based Russian says that’s what he plans on doing.

Ariel Helwani has the details.

Michael Johnson, who accepted tomorrow’s fight against Artem Lobov on two weeks’ notice, missed weight this AM by one pound. Lobov’s head coach @John_Kavanagh confirms Lobov has accepted the fight. First reported by @MikeBohnMMA. 20% of Johnson’s purse goes to Lobov. However …

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 26, 2018

I’m told @RusHammerMMA went up to Johnson afterwards and said he will make sure MJ gets the full 20% back bc he is appreciative of the fact that MJ took the fight on short notice. The rules are Lobov has to take the money but he gave Johnson his word he’ll get it back to him.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 26, 2018

I asked Artem Lobov about his decision to give back Johnson’s fine. “I told the UFC to save me the trouble of transferring the cash and just pay him in full,” he said. I’m happy to sign any waivers.

“I show respect where it’s due,” he added. “Always.”

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 26, 2018

“I told the UFC to save me the trouble of transferring the cash and just pay him in full,” Artem Lobov told Helwani. ““I show respect where it’s due. Always.”

Artem Lobov will enter this fight on a two-fight skid, having recently given up decisions to Cub Swanson and Andre Fili. “The Russian Hammer” is 13-14-1 overall, although that record does not reflect his ability. Instead, it reflects his willingness to fight pretty much anybody under any circumstances, just as he’s doing against the over-weight Michael Johnson in Moncton.

What do you think of this classy move from Artem Lobov?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/26/2018.