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- Artem Lobov sues Conor McGregor for Millions over Proper 12 Whiskey
- The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement instructs Sportsbooks not to offer wagering on any fight James Krause is involved in
- Jiri Prochazka vacates his UFC Light Heavyweight title
When you think about Conor McGregor’s rise from rags to riches, it’s hard not to think about Artem Lobov by his side. Lobov was one of McGregor’s best friends, training partners, and his sidekick. Wherever McGregor was during his rise, Artem was right there behind him. Even before McGregor entered the UFC, Artem was in McGregor’s corner when McGregor fought in front of a few hundred people at regional events in Ireland. This friendship looks to be over now as Artem is suing McGregor over Proper No. 12 Irish Whiskey.
Artem alleges that he played a pivotal role in the development of Proper 12. According to Artem, McGregor was considering getting into the Vodka business with professional strongman Hafþór Björnsson, who played “The Mountain” in Game of Thrones. Artem stopped McGregor from doing that and told him to explore Irish Whiskey instead. McGregor allegedly told Artem to do some investigating and put a deal together. Artem went to different distilleries and put a deal together for McGregor. Artem says that McGregor offered him $1 Million but he turned it down.
Proper 12 was sold for $600 Million in 2021 and Artem is suing McGregor for 5% of his profits from the sale. Artem announced this past August that he was going to be releasing a book where he would discuss how he came up with the idea of Proper 12. This Instagram post was the first time that Artem publicly spoke about his claims of Proper 12. McGregor has since unfollowed Artem on Instagram.
When Khabib Nurmagomedov had an altercation with Artem Lobov in Brooklyn during the week of UFC 223, McGregor loaded a plane full of fighters in Ireland and flew to New York to find Khabib. McGregor found Khabib on a bus and threw a dolly at it, shattering the window. This led to a fight between McGregor and Khabib at UFC 229 which stands as the all-time biggest box office PPV in UFC history. The infamous dolly incident all started because of the interaction between Artem Lobov and Khabib earlier that week. Who would have ever thought that 4 years later that Artem Lobov and Conor McGregor would be fighting each other in court?
Remember in the 10th edition of OverUnder when we talked about a UFC fight being under investigation for suspicious betting activity? Well, it seems that all roads point back to James Krause. The fight under investigation was a Featherweight bout between Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Darrick Minner. Sportsbooks saw unusual line movement in the final hours leading up to the fight, as they were flooded with bets on Nuerdanbieke, who won the fight by 1st round TKO. Many began to question if James Krause, who cornered Minner, gave away inside information about Minner’s pre-existing knee injury which could have influenced the unusual line movement.
Last week, Miles John defeated Vince Morales at UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs. Cuțelaba. In his post-fight interview, John revealed that his coach James Krause had been pulled from his corner and that the UFC was suspending him. Later that night, it was revealed that the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement notified the state’s sportsbooks that they are prohibited from taking bets on fights that James Krause is involved in as a coach, trainer, promoter or fighter.
James Krause ran a Discord Server called “The 1% Club” where he sold betting advice to gamblers. Yesterday, both Krause’s Discord Server and YouTube channel had been deleted. Krause is the subject of an ongoing investigation and it looks like he’s trying to keep a low profile. The UFC’s betting integrity partner Don Best Sports is currently investigating the case. If James Krause is found guilty of any wrongdoing, it’s possible that we’ll never see him corner another UFC fighter again.
News broke this week that Jiri Prochazka has vacated his UFC Light Heavyweight title and he’ll no longer be fighting Glover Teixeira at UFC 282 on December 10th. Prochazka severely injured his shoulder while training in Las Vegas last week, in what Dana White described as the worst shoulder injury in UFC history. When a Champion is usually injured, the UFC creates an interim title. This wasn’t the case this time, as Prochazka vacated the title because he didn’t want to hold up the division. As a Champion, Prochazka was entitled to PPV points. He'll forego that right unless his management works out a deal with the UFC.
Prochazka released a statement on Instagram saying that he’ll rehab the injury and immediately fight for the Light Heavyweight title upon his return. With Prochazka injured, the UFC tried to book a fight for the vacant title between Glover Teixeira and Magomed Ankalaev. Teixeira was willing to fight Ankalaev but asked the UFC to fight him at UFC 283 in Brazil in 2 months. Teixeira also offered to fight Jan Blachowicz at UFC 282 for the title but said he needed more time to fight Ankalaev because he’s a new opponent. Teixeira has a history with Blachowicz, as he defeated him in October of 2021 to become the Light Heavyweight Champion. Since he’s already done a training camp for Blachowicz in the past, he was willing to fight him on short notice. The UFC didn’t accept either of Teixeira’s offers and moved on, making a fight between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev for the vacant title at UFC 282.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Glover Teixeira next. He was initially planning on retiring after fighting Jiri Prochazka this past June but decided to come back for another fight when he was offered the rematch. Now that he’s been removed from the title picture, you’ve got to wonder if 43-year-old Glover Teixeira ever fights again.
Anthony Smith vs. Jamahal Hill will headline the UFC's March 11th event.
Paulo Costa says he hasn't officially accepted a fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC 284.
Glover Teixeira is upset with the UFC's decision to remove him from the title picture.
The PFL Championship takes place tonight.
Gilbert Burns vs. Neil Magny is being targeted for UFC 283 in Brazil.
Cain Velasquez is granted permission to participate in a pro wrestling match with AAA.
Conor McGregor throws shade at Joe Rogan for his commentary.
Ali Abdel Aziz tells John Morgan that Henry Cejudo vs. Aljamain Sterling is 'done'.
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