It would make for a great storyline but Artem Lobov vs. Zubaira Tukhugov is almost certainly not going ahead.
Lobov, Conor McGregor’s long-time training partner, had been scheduled to face off with Tukhugov, one of the individuals involved in the unseemly UFC 229 melee on Saturday night, but it looks like the fight will no longer be taking place.
It’s reported that Tukhugov was the man who climbed into the Octagon and sucker-punched McGregor after the Irishman’s submission defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tukhugov will likely be cut from the UFC roster for his part in the brawl.
While it’s not beyond the UFC to use ugly situations to promote fights, Tukhugov is expected to lose his job for striking McGregor from behind after the UFC 229 main event.
“The guys who jumped in will never fight here again,” UFC President Dana White said in his post-fight press conference.
Disgusting. #UFC229 pic.twitter.com/bfRMnM6YwL
— Darragh Murphy (@DarrMurphy) October 7, 2018
When asked whether Lobov vs. Tukhugov – which was slated for UFC Moncton at the end of the month – would indeed be cancelled during his media scrum, White answered: “Definitely.”
Should the featherweight bout be scrapped, as is expected, it will represent the second time this year that Lobov has missed out on a fight because of a fracas involving McGregor and Nurmagomedov.
You will remember that Lobov was also pulled from UFC 223 in April following McGregor’s infamous bus attack in Brooklyn.
White has also revealed that McGregor chose not to press charges against Tukhugov and the other pair of Nurmagomedov’s teammates who attacked him in the Octagon on Saturday night.
