Report: Lobov vs. Johnson targeted for UFC Moncton

A fight between Artem Lobov and Michael Johnson is being discussed for UFC Moncton later this month.

When Zubaira Tukhugov was pulled from his fight with Artem Lobov at UFC Moncton for his involvement in the UFC 229 brawl, it was unclear whether the SBG fighter would remain on the card. It now seems likely Lobov will indeed be fighting later this month in Canada, as Michael Johnson is slated to fill in for Tukhugov to face “The Russian Hammer.”

The news was first reported by Ariel Helwani of ESPN. Following last week’s news that Tukhugov had been pulled from the card, Lobov pleaded to UFC president Dana White to not let the Chechen fighter “escape his punishment.”

Lobov (13-14-1, 1NC) hasn’t fought since losing a unanimous decision to Andre Fili in October 2017. His last win came almost two years ago at UFC Belfast when he defeated Teruto Ishihara. Lobov was supposed to fight Alex Caceres at UFC 223 in April, but his involvement in Conor McGregor’s bus attack that took place prior to the event meant Lobov was pulled from the fight.

Johnson (18-13) most recently picked up a split decision win against Fili in August. That win for “The Menace” was his first in four fights, previously suffering defeats to the likes of current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje before that.

UFC Moncton will take place at the Avenir Centre on October 27th. Top light heavyweights Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith will meet in the main event of the card.