On Saturday night, Artem Lobov pulled off an impressive upset, winning a decision over former world champion Paulie Malignaggi at Bare Knuckle FC 6. But Lobov’s win did more than finally settle the feud between Malignaggi and Conor McGregor’s camp, it also apparently inspired current champ-champ Henry Cejudo.

Not long after Lobov’s victory, the UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion went onto Twitter and called for a match against boxing’s current pound-for-pound king, Vasyl Lomachenko.

“Artem Lobov (13-15 MMA) former UFc fighter wins by unanimous victory over Paulie Malignaggi (36-8 Boxing) former world champion. What do you think an Olympic and UFC champ champ would do to boxing’s Vasyl Lomachenko?”

Cejudo recently stopped Marlon Moraes to claim the vacant UFC bantamweight title. Since then, “The Messenger” has proclaimed himself the greatest combat sport athlete of all time. Should he improbably outbox one of the best boxers alive, and a man who won Olympic gold twice, that would lend credence to his claim. However, Lomachenko has a pretty good idea how any match between the two of them would go.

Of course, don’t tell that to Cejudo. Aside from calling out Lomachenko, the Olympic gold medalist has been calling for a shot at the featherweight title. His appetite for gold seemingly knows no bounds and in response to Lomachenko’s dismissal of him, Cejudo fired back, referencing the only man to defeat Lomachenko in boxing, Orlando Salido.

Realistically, a match between the two is incredibly unlikely. Not the least because Cejudo won’t be fighting anytime soon. The UFC champ-champ suffered a tear in his shoulder that required surgery and will be out until 2020.

---

MUST-READ STORIES

Results. Artem Lobov earns unanimous decision over Paulie Malignaggi in bare knuckle brawl.

Results. The Korean Zombie knocked out Renato Moicano in one minute at UFC Greenville.

Results. Rafael Lovato Jr. dethrones Gegard Mousasi with impressive grappling display at Bellator London.

GOAT. Artem Lobov puts Paulie Malignaggi rivalry to bed, admonishes poor refereeing in fight.

Loser. Paulie Malignaggi believes he got ‘sh*t decision’ from ‘bush league judges’ at BKFC 6.

---

VIDEO STEW

Bare Knuckle highlights.

Bellator London highlights.

The story of Conor McGregor’s star power.

Kang coming in with Bobby Knux vs. Izzy promo.

The GOAT beats up Paulie.

DC on Brock.

Chael discusses being called the worst drug cheat of his era.

---

LISTEN UP

6th Round. Immediate post-fight reaction to UFC Greenville.

Severe MMA. Discussing Bare Knuckle, UFC Greenville, and Bellator London.

---

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Artem.

Don’t hate it.

Respect.

LOL.

Violent Bob Ross.

Call out.

Aaron Pico statement.

If you don’t know who Datsik is, well, Wikipedia him. But here he is fighting two people at once, though one looks like a teenager.

Aaron Chalmers paying out people who bet on him by KO.

Got him.

Beef.

Artem knows where his bread is buttered.

Almost like Conor only did the one thing for promotion.

---

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Seo Hee Ham (20-8) vs. Tomo Maesawa (12-9); Rizin 17, July 28.

Roberto Satoshi (8-0) vs. Mizuto Hirota (18-10-2); Rizin 17, July 28.

Jake Heun (13-9) vs. Vitaly Shemetov (23-9, 1 NC); Rizin 17, July 28.

---

TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

1998: Pride FC held their third event, Pride 3, featuring Kazushi Sakuraba submitting future UFC champion Carlos Newton with a heel hook.

2006: Michael Bisping made his UFC debut, stopping Josh Haynes with punches to win The Ultimate Fighter season 3 light heavyweight tournament. Also at this event, it was announced that Randy Couture would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

2016: Michael Chandler knocked out Patricky Freire to claim the vacant lightweight title at Bellator 157.

2017: Bellator MMA held its first event in New York City, Bellator NYC, headlined by a grudge match between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva. Sonnen won the fight by unanimous decision. The card also saw Matt Mitrione knock out Fedor Emelianenko, Brent Primus injure Michael Chandler to claim the lightweight title, Douglas Lima take a unanimous decision over Lorenz Larkin to defend his welterweight title, and Ryan Bader claim a split decision over Phil Davis to win the light heavyweight belt.

---

FINAL THOUGHTS

Gonna big up this picture I took of TKZ’s team right after the win because it’s probably the only good photo I’ve ever taken cageside. Everyone was overcome with emotion. Could tell the win meant a lot to them.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

---

EXIT POLL

---

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.