Artem Lobov doesn’t see Floyd Mayweather Jr. making it past the sixth round against Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor’s training partner, Artem Lobov, doesn’t think the potential boxing match between McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will go the distance.

The Russian fighter, who competes in the UFC’s featherweight division, is confident that McGregor stops Mayweather in their potential fight. Many combat sports pundits are skeptical of McGregor’s possible success against Mayweather in a boxing match, since the Irishman, who’s never competed in professional boxing, would be facing arguably the greatest boxer ever.

But Lobov, who knows a thing or two about McGregor, is confident the UFC lightweight champ stops Mayweather in the middle rounds of the fight.

“Being honest, and I know I’m going to get a lot of hate from it, but I don’t see Mayweather making it past the sixth round,” Lobov told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “And if it was Pacquiao, I don’t see Pacquiao making it past two rounds. And look, I was the one that predicted the one minute against Aldo. There is an interview of me, I can’t find it now, but there is a video of me where Conor keeps talking about four minutes, saying around the four-minute mark he was going to stop Aldo, and me saying, ‘no, forget the four minutes. It doesn’t get out of the first minute,’ and sure enough it was.

“I’m sure I got a lot of hate for that too, but trust me I know something. I’ve sparred this man for a very long time and I’ve watched this game for a many, many years and I understand a thing or two.”

Nothing concrete has been set at the moment for the boxing match between the two superstars, but both McGregor and Mayweather have expressed interest in fighting each other for some time. Even UFC president Dana White made an official offer to Mayweather back in January to fight McGregor, to which the undefeated boxer responded by calling White a comedian.

Like many, Lobov is unsure if the fight will come to fruition, but assures McGregor has been getting ready for the Mayweather fight.

“I certainly hope it will happen,” Lobov said. “I mean, we’re ready, we’re getting ready for that fight, make no mistake about it, Conor is ready to go, he’s a loaded weapon. Whenever Mayweather wants to sign on that dotted line, we’re good to go because Mayweather, he’s a big man for talking but whether he actually wants the fight, I don’t know.”