In one of the strangest internet ‘beefs’ to erupt in recent memory, Irish welterweight Tommy Quinn (6-1) and Artem Lobov (10-10-1-1) have engaged in a war of words on social media platform Twitter.
Trouble flared when the Cage Warriors welterweight Quinn; in a seemingly innocent attempt, sought a call to arms to help raise the profile of his fellow Irish fighters, and help them get them signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, took to his Facebook and posted the following message:-
“Alright folks, I’m gonna ask of you a big favour of all of you. For those who know what I do and where I’m from, most will be aware of how rife Irish MMA is at the minute. Currently it is booming due to the likes of Conor McGregor, Norman Parke, Neil Seery etc and is on the constant uprise. Due to this there is a huge opportunity for other Irish MMA athletes to try and get on the big show. There are a few common names being mentioned as the next Irish signings, Paul Redmond, Tommy Mc Cafferty, Ryan Roddy, Alan Philpott and myself. What I am asking you to do, my friends, family, associates, whatever relationship I may have with YOU, I want you to like, share, follow these guys posts, pictures, links etc and get them as much support as possible to give everyone as much of an opportunity as possible to let the big shows see they have a good following and that people are interested in them as a person and a fighter. If there is one thing you can do for me this year, make this it, let’s help each other get where we deserve.
Thank You”
But in a bizarre turn of events for the 22-year-old, a similar post on his Twitter account via Instagram saw the fighter; who trains out of the Bad Boy Training Centre in Gateshead, England, receive a romp of abuse from a number fighters. In an attack lead by Russian born, Straight Blast Gym Ireland featherweight Artem “The Prospect Killer” Lobov, many openly voiced their collective disapproval at Quinn’s tweet:-
After being admonished by one follower for his tweet, Lobov’s disparagement of Quinn was joined by top Irish welterweight and fellow SBG teammate Peter Queally (5-1) who competes for South African promotion EFC. He would seemly suggest that Quinn had brought more attention to English MMA then he had to Irish MMA:-
This is despite the fact that Quinn who was last seen in action just over a year ago at Cage Warriors 62 at the Metro Arena in Newcastle, England has in fact competed on the Irish circuit in 4 of his 7 professional bouts. The same follower would continue to scold Lobov and his teammate Queally when he questioned if they shared the same opinion of fellow SBG teammate and former UFC veteran Tom Egan who now lives and fights in the United States, but Lobov and Queally would fire back by tweeting:-
Despite this seemingly unwarranted attack Co. Derry born Quinn saw the lighter side of the spat when he joked:-
Despite having a reputation for shooting from the hip it is not known why Lobov decided to break ranks from a seemly unified Irish MMA scene and attack a fighter from his adopted homeland. However, MMA Plus will bring news on this emerging story as we get it.
