Artem Lobov loses unanimous decision to Alex White

It was another big night for Irish MMA this Saturday as SBG Ireland’s Artem Lobov kicked off the UFC Fight Night 82 card in Las Vegas against American Alex White.

After losing his UFC debut against Ryan Hall in the TUF 22 finale, Lobov had a point to prove in his second Octagon outing and looked determined to do just that from the start.

Right from the off Lobov put on the pressure and backed White towards the fence with some nice power shots coming from both men. Lobov won most of the early exchanges as he countered White well but a couple of big right hands and a takedown from White late in the round might have stolen it for him.

Between rounds John Kavanagh told Lobov not to load up on his shots and it had an immediate effect as he caught White with a couple of nice combinations. The output, though, was pretty low from both men with large parts of the round seeing mostly single shots thrown many of which were landed by White. Just like in round one, White took Lobov down late and although he couldn’t control the position it made the round easier to score.

Probably two rounds down Lobov upped the pace starting the third round but White looked very light on his feet and was dodging most of the Lobov attacks while landing some nice shots of his own. Two minutes into the round White got his third takedown of the fight to put him well in the lead. To his credit, Lobov fought back to his feet after a grueling ground battle and landed some nice shots but it was too little too late as the time elapsed.

In the end all three judges scored it 30-27 to White which takes Lobov to 0-2 Inside the Octagon.