Former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi and UFC veteran Artem Lobox are set to face off in the main event of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 6 on June 22 at Florida State Fairgrounds Entertainment Hall in Tampa, Florida. The two men share plenty of bad blood stemming from Malignaggi’s time as a sparring partner of Conor McGregor ahead of the blockbuster Floyd Mayweather fight.
Prior to their showdown this summer, Malignaggi and Lobov came face-to-face for their pre-fight staredown and tempers nearly boiled over.
As the two men began jawing back and forth as Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship president David Feldman stood between them, Malignaggi escalated the tension when he decided to spit on Lobov during their news conference on Monday at Dave & Buster’s in Times Square.
Malignaggi also had some harsh words for Lobov during the press conference.
“One thing about my career, I’ve always been known as one of the toughest guys in boxing, besides winning two world titles,” Malignaggi said, as transcribed by MMAjunkie.com. “This guy here, who’s known as a punching bag with a loud mouth, was known as the guy who just trained with Conor McGregor. What is this guy’s accomplishments?
“You’re a piece of (expletive), and I’m gonna treat you like the dirtbag that you are. Because after I beat the (expletive) out of you, I’m gonna spit on you. I might take out my (expletive) and piss on you. … I’m gonna take out my (expletive) and knock your teeth out and piss in that toothless mouth of yours.”
He added, “My hands are frickin’ like razor blades, no doubt,” Malignaggi said. “First of all, get a good look at this guy’s face right now, the way it looks right now. Because next month I’m gonna make it all look like a road map. Back in the day, before we had MapQuest and Waze and everything, we had road maps. You’d pull them out, they had a bunch of lines all over them. I’m gonna make this guy’s face look like a road map next month. Permanently, because these scars are not gonna go away.”
You can watch the faceoff below.
