Conor McGregor's SBG team mate Artem Lobov is set to face Michael Johnson at UFC Fight Night 138 in Moncton, Canada on the 27th of October.
Lobov was scheduled to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov team mate Zubaira Tukhugov, but the Russian has been ruled out of the event due to his participation in the post fight melee which marred the end of UFC 229.
A statement on the UFC's website reads as follows:
Featherweight athlete Michael Johnson will be replacing Zubaira Tukhugov in the scheduled bout against Artem Lobov at UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith, due to an ongoing investigation by the Nevada Athletic Commission,” UFC officials wrote in a statement released on Wednesday.
Johnson has beaten such luminaries as Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson in his career in the UFC and also recently nearly went the full distance with Conor McGregor's conqueror Nurmagomedov, and the American will be a heavy favourite with the bookies to beat Lobov.
The 32-year-old has only recently moved to featherweight from lightweight, and is 1-1 in the weight class with his last victory coming against Andre Fili in August.
Lobov is 13-14-1 as a professional fighter and is currently on a two fight losing streak with one of those losses coming against a man Johnson beat in Fili.
OFFICIAL: @FollowTheMenace steps in to face @RusHammerMMA at #UFCMoncton ➡️ https://t.co/F3ox2ENrcZ
? https://t.co/VlwYr06CLP pic.twitter.com/CeC3Rw55CW
— UFC (@ufc) October 17, 2018
Lobov vs. Johnson will be the co-main event for UFC Fight Night 138, which will be headlined by a bout between light heavyweight fighters Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith.
