In a report earlier today by Ariel Helwani for MMA Fighting he said that the UFC are aiming to add Artem Lobov vs. Chris Avila to the UFC 202 card headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz.
Helwani wrote:
"At UFC 202, the Diaz vs. McGregor rivalry will extend beyond the main event. The UFC is working towards adding a featherweight fight between Artem Lobov and Chris Avila to the Aug. 20 card, MMA Fighting has learned."
As the report says, Avila is a teammate of the Diaz brothers and Lobov has been known to UFC fans for a long time as McGregor's right hand man having appeared by The Notorious' side for a lot of his media tours.
Lobov (11-12-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) finally made his UFC debut in 2015. He made it to the TUF 22 finale but lost to Ryan Hall by unanimous decision and then lost he second fight in the Octagon this past February to Alex White, again via unanimous decision.
This fight would mark Avila's debut in the UFC. He has a record of 5-2 and won his past three fights all via stoppage.
It is worth noting that this report would match up with recent social media posts by Artem and his coach John Kavanagh.
