Artem Lobov won a five round unanimous decision over former two-division boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi on Saturday — we’ve got the highlights!
While the UFC and Bellator went head-to-head (the latter on a bizarre broadcast schedule that did not sit well with fans), Bare Knuckle FC returned Saturday with a match-up that could only exist in the world of combat sports. Or maybe pro wrestling. A grudge match between Paulie Malignaggi, a former two-division boxing champ not really known for having any finishing power, and Artem Lobov, the sub-.500 training partner of Conor McGregor, was pretty much being billed as the biggest fight in BKFC history.
Given they’re just six events in, that’s not really a stretch. But in terms of sporting merit, well there was little. Lobov is a gamer, but not a great, which is the point of all those GOAT memes surrounding him. Malignaggi was a legit boxer, but had been on the sidelines two years, and pretty much embarrassed himself in the build-up to the fight, slapping and spitting on Lobov on separate occasions.
Then he went and lost a five-round unanimous decision to ‘The Russian Hammer’ in the main event. Ouch.
To add injury to insult, Malignaggi was sporting a nasty gash running from his eyebrow down to his nose following the fight, just one of several facial lacerations, though he later boasted the Lobov had only hit him with a single clean punch.
Check out highlights from the main event scrap above, and for full coverage of the card, visit our results page.
