After announcing his return to mixed martial arts late last week, Artem Lobov, joined The Mac Life for his very first interview since deciding to return to the sport that he first made his name in.
During the interview, Lobov was asked if he has any advice for newly signed Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) prospect, and now former UFC fighter, Paige VanZant.
“One of the mistakes that I made was that boxing sparring in preparation for bare knuckle fighting is completely different,” Lobov told The Mac Life. “The speed is completely different, when you’re doing boxing sparring with 16 ounce gloves, the speed of the punches is completely different to when you’re bare knuckle. And even if you get someone that’s a technical boxer like Floyd (Mayweather), I don’t know, but the style that he does in boxing, I don’t think he would be successful in bare knuckle. Somebody could just overwhelm you, someone can just sort of go crazy with a wild style, which in boxing it’s not successful at all because chances are you’re just gonna punch yourself out, tire out, and then the other guy’s going to beat you up, but that can be very effective in bare knuckle.”
“In terms of cardio work, she should do sprints, just absolute sprints,” Lobov added. “Recover and go again. Sprint, recover, go again. Yeah, and of course get ready to get cut, there’s no way you’re not getting cut. If she’s gonna fight legit fighters which I think she will, be prepared to get cut up. It’s just one of the things that happen in that sport.”
VanZant’s debut for BKFC is still TBD.
Source: The Mac Life
