Owen Roddy's SBG Charlestown vlogs have given us a fantastic insight to what goes on behind the scenes of SBG fighters in recent times, and while his uploads around Conor McGrgegor's title fights and Diaz wars have clocked up the most views, we noticed something interesting after Artem Lobov's fight with Cub Swanson last weekend.
Lobov lost to Swanson by unanimous decision, with his granite chin ensuring that he lasted all five rounds against the #4 ranked fighter in the featherweight division, but it seems that the man who carried both Irish and Russian flags to the octagon may have been inadvertently told of the result before the official decision.
During Owen Roddy's vlog, as he films Lobov pacing during the anxious wait for the result, Brian Stann comes over to the SBG fighter and asks him to "stick around" as he will be interviewed after Swanson.
Hey Artem, stick around, I'm gonna interview you after Cub, OK buddy?
After registering what Stann said, Lobov then went in search of an explanation, where we can hear Stann explain that he was asked in his earpiece by the directors to make sure that Lobov does not leave. Which would suggest that they either got wind of the official result, or were so confident in their feelings that Swanson had won that they wanted to ensure Lobov did not leave the octagon.
Hey I'm just telling you what's in my ear, so..
Artem, nobody told me anything I have no idea.
The discussion can be seen from 5:14 in Roddy's vlog:
Now, it's unlikely that the broadcasters were told of the result before the fighters knew it, but it's not impossible.
Either way, Stann should not have asked Lobov to "stick around" in that moment, as regardless of how convincing Swanson's unanimous decision victory may or may not have been, it's not very considerate to the fighter.
It should be said that Brian Stann has been an absolute pleasure in his role on commentary for the UFC, and he was only acting on what he had been asked to do by the production team, so he's not to blame, but perhaps he should have known not to word it that way in such a nervous moment for Lobov, and instead asked "if" he doesn't win to stick around.
If you've been sleeping on Roddy's vlogs, you can catch up over on the SBG Charlestown YouTube channel.
