Artem Lobov is ready to throw leather with Andre Fili on Saturday (Oct. 21).

Lobov will meet Fili inside the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. The featherweight scrap is set to be featured on the preliminary portion of UFC Fight Night 118. Both men are coming off losses.

Speaking to The Mac Life, Lobov said there’s a bit of animosity that has been brewing between himself and Fili:

“On The Ultimate Fighter we had a bit of a back and forth. Afterwards, I still wanted to fight him but he was like, ‘If he doesn’t win The Ultimate Fighter I don’t want to fight him. I was like, ‘Whatever’. I don’t chase them, I replace them. I left it but I got an opportunity to step in on short notice in July but obviously I was in the middle of the Mayweather camp with Conor, so it was an obvious choice. I wasn’t going to sacrifice that just to fight Fili. Let’s be honest, it’s not that big of a fight — it’s a fight I could have gotten any weekend.”


“The Russian Hammer” went on to express his excitement over the opportunity to mix it up with Fili.

“I’ve been dying to get my hands on him though, it will be good to see what that little chin feels like.”