Artem Lobov vs. Paulie Malignaggi bout now scheduled for Bare Knuckle FC event in Tampa

Artem Lobov and Paulie Malignaggi officially have a date set for their bare-knuckle boxing match, but there’s been a change of location.

In April, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship promotion president David Feldman said that the highly anticipated grudge match between Lobov and Malignaggi would likely take place in New Hampshire on June 22. The two rivals will still fight this summer, but it was announced on the BKFC website that they will instead meet in Tampa, Florida, at a venue to be determined.

This will be the promotion’s first event in Florida after debuting in Wyoming and then holding three events in Mississippi and one in Cancun, Mexico.

Malignaggi, a former IBF and WBA boxing champion, will be competing in BKFC for the first time. He announced his retirement from boxing back in March 2017, finishing his career with a record of 36-8 (7 KOs). The 38-year-old fighter has had a longstanding feud with Lobov and his close friend Conor McGregor dating back to an infamous sparring session between Malignaggi and McGregor ahead of the UFC star’s crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Tensions have only escalated from there and Malignaggi actually became physical with Lobov when the two attended a BKFC media event in New York this past April.

Lobov (13-15-1, 1 NC in MMA) is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Jason Knight at BKFC 5. He was released by the UFC in January following a 2-5 run with the promotion.