Artem Lobov Didn’t Get the Performance He Wanted at UFC 202

Artem Lobov spoke with MMAjunkie about his win over Chris Avila at UFC 202. Some highlights are below:

On how the fight went: “I’m a realist, and I realize obviously this is not the performance I wanted or expected. But it was very hard to get a knockout against a guy who doesn’t really want to engage. There was a lot of talk about 209 and about being this gangster and coming here to kills us, and this and that. Yes, when there were 15 of them. They were throwing bottles and going at it, but when it was face to face, man to man, all I heard was silence.”

On Avila participating in the bottle-throwing incident at the press conference: “He’s only 20 years old…Throwing bottles and all this, this is something that’s going to get you kicked out of the UFC before you career starts. He should think for himself because guess what – Nate and Nick (Diaz) are well-paid already. They have it all sorted. This kid isn’t, so you don’t want to ruin your future just like that. So he needs to make certain adjustments, improve his technique, improve his behavior, and let’s all be part of this huge sport that’s only going to get bigger.”

On beating Avila: “I said it before, I was going to break his legs – and I did just that. And like I said, it was harder to break his face because he was covering the whole time and didn’t really want to engage. So yeah, I just stayed with it. I kept the pressure on, never really took a step back. I made sure his back was against the fence the whole time. I slipped once, and he thought it was Christmas. He jumped on me. He thought I had no ground game. I said, ‘Hold on kid. I’m going to break your legs here, as well.’ And I went for a leg lock, and he had to get out of there. It was nice to show people that I do have a ground game as well.”

On getting his first UFC win: “The weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and I’m delighted to get this win. Now the next step is to get that knockout – get back to that the Russian hammer does best, knocking people out.”