Next chapter in Conor McGregor’s bitter feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov falls apart on PFL fight week

Artem Lobov has withdrawn from his PFL fight with Zubaira Tukhugov due to injury

On Friday night, Artem Lobov was set to take on Zubaira Tukhugov in one more chapter of the fallout of UFC 223.

For Lobov, who is now in a much different place with Conor McGregor, this meant making his return to MMA for the first time since his final UFC fight in October of 2018.

This was until the PFL announced on Tuesday that ‘The Russian Hammer’ has been forced to withdraw from the contest due to an injury in training.

Lobov had already been lining up other feuds that he hoped to finally put to rest before suffering this setback.

It remains to be seen whether Tukhugov, who hasn’t fought in MMA since his last UFC fight in February 2023, will be able to stay on the card against a replacement opponent.

While the main event was always going to be the star of the show, this is a disappointing setback for the promotion.

Artem Lobov isn’t the first fighter to have withdrawn from the PFL’s return to Dubai

The catchweight matchup between Artem Lobov and Zubaira Tukhugov isn’t the only fight that has been affected by unfortunate news ahead of October 3.

While Lewis McGrillen withdrawing from his bout was disappointing, fortunately for the promotion, they had enough time to find Caolan Loughran a suitable opponent.

In his PFL debut after parting ways with the UFC earlier this year, Loughran will face a fellow former Cage Warriors champion in Jack Cartwright.

The matchup is currently scheduled to open the main card, as seen in the graphic above.