EXCLUSIVE
good friend
‘This was actually my idea’ – Conor McGregor’s teammate Artem Lobov reveals pivotal role he played in creating Proper 12 Irish Whiskey before refusing to accept $1million from his friend as a result
Conor McGregor’s long-time teammate and friend Artem Lobov has revealed he played a key role in setting up the UFC star's wildly successful whiskey business.
In April 2021, ‘Notorious’ sold his majority stake in Proper 12 Irish Whiskey for $600million and became one of the richest men in sport as a result, but none of that would’ve been possible without the help of ‘The Russian Hammer’.
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“The selling point of my book will be the Proper 12 Whiskey story. A few people know, but this was actually my idea. I was the person who came up with the idea to do a whiskey for Conor,” Lobov told talkSPORT.
Six years ago, McGregor was riding high after beating Nate Diaz in their eagerly anticipated rematch in 2016 when he was approached by Icelandic strongman Hafþór Björnsson, also known as Thor, about getting into the liquor business.
He proposed McGregor release a vodka in his native Iceland before the MMA fighter turned to Lobov, who has a master’s degree in finance, for his advice on the potential deal.
“After the second Diaz fight, me and Conor were in the gym and we were talking one day and he says to me, ‘Artem, Thor, - ‘The Mountain’ out of Game of Thrones - I was chatting to him, and he’s offered me [the chance] to do my own vodka,” Lobov recalled.
'"He said, he was doing one in Iceland and now he’s offering me the chance to do one as well. It looks like a pretty good deal what do you think about that?’”
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During his time studying finance, the fan favourite learned about the history of whiskey in Ireland while preparing for a presentation on the topic. He also found the market was a potential goldmine after years of growth and pitched the idea of getting into the whiskey business to ‘Mystic Mac’.
“I said, ‘well Conor I’ll tell you one thing. Vodka is the best-selling spirit and it’s definitely something we should look into at some point,’” he said.
'"First of all, why would you do a Vodka in Iceland? Iceland is a beautiful country. I’ve been there before it’s amazing, but they are not known for their vodka.
'"On top of that, it’s a very expensive country so the cost of making it in that country is going to be through the roof. Why would you pay a higher cost for an unknown quality? In Russia, I’m going to get you a much better deal.
“I said to him before you even look any further, ‘here’s what I know about Irish whiskey.’ I told him about my presentation from college. I told him about the dominance of Irish whiskey and all of that. He said, ‘you go off and see what deal you can put together' and I went on my way."
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Not only did Lobov learn about the whiskey business during his time at university he also made a friend who would play a pivotal role in helping him make Proper 12 a reality.
“Lucky for me, when I was studying in college, I used to work in the bar at the Radisson Hotel and I had a friend who worked in the bar with me,” he continued.
“We were just two 18-year-old kids. I obviously, left and did my own thing but Ivan stayed working in hospitality and worked his way up to be the general manager of a hotel.
“He put me in touch with a man called Niall of Classic Drinks, a top drink distribution company in Ireland. Niall was kind enough to meet me, at the Radisson actually, and he was very generous with his information.
“Once I got that information, I went on and met all different whiskey distilleries. I called some and met some in person. I did my research and put a beautiful deal together."
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The 35-year-old, excited by the work he had done, returned to McGregor and told him that he had put together a deal that would make them some serious money.
“Once the deal was ready, I went to Conor and I said, ‘Conor, I have the deal ready for you. This is going to be a billion-dollar deal, no messing here.’ I’m not sure if he took me seriously or not at the time with the billion dollars,” Lobov said.
“I introduced Audie [Attar] and the rest of the Paradigm [Sports Management] team to my deal and all the people I was already working with and then we got going.
"We continued working on it and as you can see it was a massive success. I’m really happy to see that and I’m really happy to be a part of it.”
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The former dual-weight UFC champion was obviously delighted with Lobov’s hard work and offered to reward him to the tune of $1million but he refused to accept payment from his pal.
“Conor offered me $1m but I turned it down, I didn’t accept it. You know, throughout my career whenever I have helped Conor with camps, he offered to pay me for them camps, but I never accepted money from him,” he added.
“I said, ‘we’ve always been friends and helped each other. I never paid you for my camps so I’m not gonna accept money from you for my camps either.’”
The man affectionately nicknamed ‘The GOAT’ by fight fans retired in July 2021, mere months after McGregor sold his stake in Proper 12 for an enormous amount.
Right now, he’s not prepared to disclose if he made any money for his role in the business but will reveal all in the autobiography he’s been working on since walking away from the fight game a year ago.
“With the whiskey, there was a bit more to the story about how that went about and what happened, but I don’t want to share that yet,” Lobov concluded.
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“I’m hoping my book does well and I will tell the story in the book.
"I turned down $1 million and didn’t accept the deal.”
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