Although he was there to support his teammate, all eyes were on Conor McGregor in Gdansk.
As soon as Conor McGregor appeared in the crowd at the Ergo Arena, it was clear that his presence was going to be a major talking point.
McGregor arrived as a spectator to cheer on Artem Lobov, who took on Andre Fili on the preliminary card. ‘The Notorious’ received the biggest roar of the night up until that point when he emerged during the fight between Warlley Alves and Salim Touahri which preceded his SBG teammate’s bout.
The first round was fairly close until the closing stages. Lobov and Fili were pretty evenly matched in terms of strikes landed, then the Team Alpha Male man landed a holy headkick from Hell that sent ‘the Russian Hammer’ crashing to the canvas.
HUGE headkick by @TouchyFili at #UFCGdansk!! Lobov is tough! pic.twitter.com/5eMJga6C5q
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) October 21, 2017
Lobov recovered well from being cracked and began firing heavy shots in the second round. A firm body kick that landed flush was his most notable moment of the second stanza, but that will probably be forgotten as McGregor stole the show with his antics from the crowd.
McGregor was the loudest voice in the entire arena as he attempted to coach Lobov from the crowd. His screams weren’t taken too kindly by referee Marc Goddard though, who had to bring the fight to a halt to tell the Dubliner to shut his trap.
"My bad, my bad" 😂#UFCGdansk @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/IRjOMKPNtC
— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2017
Takedowns were the story of the final round as Fili kept finding success with his wrestling. Lobov didn’t make it easy for him as he tried to go on the offensive, but Fili proved to be too much for him from the top.
The fight went the distance with all three judges scoring it 30-27 in favour of Fili. The result means Lobov is now riding a two-fight losing streak after dropping a unanimous decision to Cub Swanson in April.
