Artem Lobov has a simple strategy for his Bare Knuckle FC 5 bout against Jason Knight: Break his opponent’s face and then call it a night.
The popular Lobov makes makes his BKFC debut in Saturday night’s main event against a fellow former UFC competitor in Biloxi, Miss.
And with bare-knuckle fighting a more simple and less complicated equation than the many facets mixed martial arts presents, Lobov has a simple plan for his fight.
“I feel free, relaxed, nothing to worry about,” Lobov said on Thursday’s episode of MMA Junkie Radio. “Just walk up to Jason Knight, break his jaw, and go home.”
Lobov said he’s studied a bit of film on his opponent. But he’s not sure how much he can glean from watching Knight’s standup in his MMA fights, because Lobov knows that his own stances in MMA are much different than the approach he’ll bring to BKFC 5.
“It’s not much use, and I know this for myself because my style of boxing is very different from how I fight in MMA,” Lobov said. “Because I don’t have to worry about takedowns. Because I can close the distance, and in MMA it was always hard to show my true standup potential. I have a pretty short reach, so I have to close the distance just to strike. But then when I close the distance, I was in wrestling range. So I always was in this weird situation.”
The most common injury in bare-knuckle fights are broken hands. But Lobov, who says he’s going through training camps for MMA fights with hand breaks, says he’s not worried about having to fight his way through a potential injury.
“When you look at it close, it’s technical,” Lobov said. “It’s very easy to break your hands in boxing. So if you break your hand, what are you going to do for the rest of the fight? So of course, if you’re me, then you don’t give a [expletive] if you break your hands. My hammers, I’ll still be throwing them.”
Much was made earlier this week about the encounter between Lobov and former boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi at a BKFC 5 media day in New York City. The way Lobov envisions things, he takes care of Knight first, then takes care of Malignaggi, then uses that as a springboard to traditional boxing.
“I want to get through Jason first,” Malignaggi said. “I want to make it nice and quick. Just a win is not enough for me here. I feel I want to put on an impressive performance because I am planning on moving to boxing eventually. Jason is my step toward Paulie and Paulie is my step toward professional boxing. That’s my plan.”
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MMA Junkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio. You can also check out www.siriusxm.com/siriusxmfightnation.
