John Gotti quotes, spit, and a verbal dressing down of the MMA media were the takeaways from Paulie’s press appearance.
Yesterday, Paulie Malignaggi and Artem Lobov appeared in Times Square to promote their upcoming fight.
The two will meet for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 6 in Tampa on June 22nd.
“The Magic Man” took the time to reignite his long-standing beef with Artem Lobov and Conor McGregor. The animus, that stems from Malignaggi’s brief time sparring with McGregor during the training camp for Mayweather vs. McGregor, was on full toxic display.
“I never lie, because I don’t have to fear anyone,” said Malignaggi quoting Gotti. “You only lie because you’re afraid. Why are Lobov and his team lying? You know why. I don’t care what they think. I’m going to put this guy out next month.”
McGregor’s team leaked footage of Malignaggi’s blunders during sparring. The closest target for revenge is now Lobov who was almost hit by a microphone and spit on by an enraged Malignaggi.
“I see me stopping him,” said Lobov He doesn’t want it anymore. In order to be a fighter and really compete, you have to have the fire. His fire is long gone.“My strategy is to come in there and shove my fist down his throat. It’s personal now with the way he’s been talking and acting. I’m going to put him away.”
In his bare-knuckle debut, the UFC veteran Lobov defeated fellow former UFC veteran Jason Knight On April 6th by unanimous decision in a Fight of The Year candidate.
“People originally said that Artem had no chance against Paulie, but once they saw Artem in his first BKFC fight, fans can see that this might be tougher than anticipated,” said David Feldman, Founder and President Of BKFC.
“This is different than boxing and different than MMA. Getting hit with that bare knuckle is different than anything you’ve experienced before.”
With the former boxing world champion becoming the biggest name to enter bare knuckle competition, the sport is becoming more legitimate with every barb and projectile hurled between the main event.
