‘Bruce Leeroy’ will run into the ‘Russian Hammer’ when Alex Caceres meets Artem Lobov later this year at UFC 223.
Despite a sub-.500 record, zero finishes in the UFC, and a two fight losing streak, Artem Lobov has another shot to turn things around in the promotion. On Tuesday, MMA Fighting reported that the teammate and sparring partner of Conor McGregor had been booked opposite Alex Caceres at UFC 223. The card takes place April 7, with a lightweight title fight (of some sort) in the main event. The Mac Life had previously reported the bout was in the works.
Lobov (13–14–1 (1)) is 2-4 in the UFC following his stint on The Ultimate Fighter 22. He went all the way to the final (despite losing in the elimination round, he was brought back by coach McGregor) on the show, losing at the TUF 22 Finale to Ryan Hall. He dropped his next fight to Alex White before picking up a pair of wins over Chris Avila and Teruto Ishihara. That was followed up by losses to Cub Swanson and Andre Fili. Win or lose, all of Lobov’s fights have ended in decision.
Alex Caceres (13–11 (1)), for his part, his coming off a loss to Wang Guan at UFC Shanghai in November. That close split decision was his third loss in four fights. ‘Bruce Leeroy’ is now a fair bit removed from his hot prospect status, and has struggled with steps up in competition. Lobov, however, is in the same boat, and the pairing has all the makings of a “loser leaves town” match.
UFC 223 takes place April 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. In the main event, Tony Ferguson takes on Khabib Nurmagomedov.
