With Lobov-Caceres canceled, what lies ahead for Artem's future? I personally think a move up to LW and fighting an unranked opponent there would be fruitful. A fight against Islam Makhachev or Rustam Khabiblov would be an interesting match-up as well as fuel the McGregor-Khabib storyline, either headlining a fight night or perhaps co-maining Conor vs. Khabib in Russia.
A rematch with Chris Gruetzemacher after his impressive W over Lauzon would also be amazing for the background story, I also feel confident Artem could KO him cold again. I also unironically think Sage Northcutt vs Artem could be a very winnable fight for Artem. Northcutt is bottom tier LW talent, and got subbed by Mickey Gall, whose only wins to date besides that are Mike Jackson and CM Punk. When Gall fought Randy Brown, a fighter who is legitimately not even top 50 in their division, he got demolished. He's supposed to be a jiu jitsu guy and Randy Brown fucking toyed with him inside his guard. Sage has also shown he can be suckered into fighting emotionally as evident by the Gall fight (Get up you freakin' apple!) which is a recipe for disaster against a heavy-handed brawler like Artem. Only problem I'd foresee is Artem perhaps struggling with the distance, but for reference, Fili is only an inch shorter than Sage and Artem still found his chin multiple times during their fight (and in b4 he lost, Fili wrestlefucked him because he was scared of the stand up).
Makdessi would also be a very winnable fight for Artem. I know he's a grizzled vet, but I'm convinced his chin is cracked after the Lando KO, shit was legit the equivalent to taking a baseball bat to the dome. He is also a guy who is fairly undersized at LW.
A rematch with Chris Gruetzemacher after his impressive W over Lauzon would also be amazing for the background story, I also feel confident Artem could KO him cold again. I also unironically think Sage Northcutt vs Artem could be a very winnable fight for Artem. Northcutt is bottom tier LW talent, and got subbed by Mickey Gall, whose only wins to date besides that are Mike Jackson and CM Punk. When Gall fought Randy Brown, a fighter who is legitimately not even top 50 in their division, he got demolished. He's supposed to be a jiu jitsu guy and Randy Brown fucking toyed with him inside his guard. Sage has also shown he can be suckered into fighting emotionally as evident by the Gall fight (Get up you freakin' apple!) which is a recipe for disaster against a heavy-handed brawler like Artem. Only problem I'd foresee is Artem perhaps struggling with the distance, but for reference, Fili is only an inch shorter than Sage and Artem still found his chin multiple times during their fight (and in b4 he lost, Fili wrestlefucked him because he was scared of the stand up).
Makdessi would also be a very winnable fight for Artem. I know he's a grizzled vet, but I'm convinced his chin is cracked after the Lando KO, shit was legit the equivalent to taking a baseball bat to the dome. He is also a guy who is fairly undersized at LW.
