Jason Knight had a great gameplan and followed it to a tee, dominating Artem Lobov en route to a fifth-round finish in the main event of BKFC 9.
BKFC 9 was headlined by a rematch between one of the greatest fights of 2019, the second go-around of Jason Knight vs. Artem Lobov. Lobov won their first encounter in an absolute war in April, where both fighters took an insane amount of damage and kept coming forward. Lobov would notoriously go on to defeat Paulie Malignaggi in the biggest win of his career this past June and has good momentum heading into this main event rematch against Knight.
Lobov and Knight opened the same way we expected, both winging punches to start. Knight lands a left hand that stings Lobov, but Lobov comes back to fire. Knight trying to keep Lobov on the outside, acting more of a boxer than a brawler to start the fight. Knight lands a 1-2, while Lobov struggles to get inside on the longer fighter. An interesting first round.
Lobov opens with a nice right hand, and Knight goes back to putting the pressure on Lobov. Lobov keeps looking for the power shots while Knight is trying to be tactical, eventually, Knight lands a clean right hand that drops Lobov, but Lobov looks okay. Lobov recovers and attacks the body, and we end the second round swinging. Knight looking great through two rounds.
Lobov started the third by pushing up the pressure, and steps in with a nice right hand. Lobov is trying to make this a fight in the third, winging punches and keeping Knight on the backfoot. Knight may have hurt his hand, he didn’t throw much in the third round and seemed to take his foot off the pedal after a great first two rounds.
Knight opens with a nice jab, while Lobov tries to stick and move. Lobov lands a right hand and switches stances. Lobov’s eye starts to swell shut as Knight is moving and landing efficiently. Knight once again pushing the pressure to end the fourth round, Artem is having trouble reaching Knight once again. Knight seems to be landing way more, but Artem is winging the more powerful shots.
Knight opens with a great combination to start the final round. He lands another one to drop Lobov, and the fight is over! He drops and finishes Lobov as the referee waves it off. What a performance by Jason Knight. He completely cut off the ring and walked him down over the course of five rounds.
An absolute war in the first fight, a finish in the second. Could a possible trilogy fight be down the line?
Jason Knight def. Artem Lobov by TKO in Round 5 (0:29)
Check out all the results from BKFC 9 here!
