Lobov vs. Avila

This is the official discussion thread for Lobov vs. Avila. Let's see what you've got.

Avila loses ~30% of his fights against total nobodies

Unless Avila makes a massive skill jump from the guy on youtube . . . let's just say that guys who only go 5-2 against semi-pros in the regionals don't usually beat the Artem Lobovs of the world, a fighter with several quality wins

* Edited at 08.18.2016, 5:13 PM ET *

lobov rear choke round 3

Though Artem isn't UFC caliber, he's fought some pretty good fighters throughout his career and won a few fights many thought he wouldn't. He keeps swinging 'till the final bell and Avila doesn't exactly posses the athleticism and speed to keep away for a whole fight, imo. His knockouts of Gruetz, Erosa, Jenkins, close loss to Mehdi and his career in Cage Warriors outweigh anything Avila has ever done (and most likely will ever do). People let the fact that Artem's a coat tail riding ****** get in the way of realizing he's always been a game and exciting fighter (and doing so against 155ers with those short stumps he calls arms). He'll still have the size, length, reach disadvantage vs. Avila, but he won't be pushing off body types like Gruetz, Mehdi, Erosa either and he doesn't lose speed against a guy like Avila. Unless Avila's got REALLY good REALLY fast (which can happen, he's 23 and from a great camp), this fight is Lobov's to lose.

Why this fight is so closely picked is beyond me. Most likely how much Artem sucked (against WAY better fighters than Avila), the fact that he's Conor's butt-boy and "Diaz, stockton, 209, brrrrooooooo" swaying the pick for a lot of people. Even if Avila ends up winning (which he may), he's most definitely not the right pick to make before the fight.

This is Avila's last fight (Bowen has a certain skillset, he's not completely crap and a totally different body type and style than Lobov, but he's no Anderson Silva either):

As you can see, nothing spectacular from Avila, he's got ok grappling, ok hands, not much athleticism, ok cardio (nothing close to Diaz cardio or chin, that's a Diaz thing, not a Stockton thing). He's a middle of the road regional fighter (and this may be the best fight of his short career).

* Edited at 08.19.2016, 4:32 AM ET *

Hopefully this is Lobov's last fight in the UFC.

TKO