Conor McGregor told a former sparring partner and business associate "remember 5 per cent is yours, no matter what" when the pair discussed the future of a new brand of Irish whiskey backed by the millionaire fighter, it has been claimed in High Court proceedings.
Artem Lobov says he was also a close friend of Mr McGregor who, along with two other shareholders, sold the "Proper No 12" whiskey brand for $600 million (€584 million) to Proximo Spirits in 2021.
The deal reportedly netted Mr McGregor $130 million (€123 million), making him the highest earning sportsman in the world last year.
Mr Lobov (36), who was born in Russia and lives in Mulhuddart, Dublin, is suing Mr McGregor (34), of Straffan, Co Kildare, seeking specific performance of an oral agreement he says the two men made when they met in the SBG gym, Naas Road, Dublin, in September 2017.
On Monday, Mr Lobov failed to get his case admitted to the fast track Commercial Court list due to delay in bringing the case which now goes through the normal High Court list.
In an affidavit, Mr Lobov said it was at the Naas Road gym that he challenged Mr McGregor about being excluded from communications about the future of the whiskey brand.
He said it was he who first approached Mr McGregor with the idea that he lend his name to a new whiskey brand and also he who did all the research and negotiations to get West Cork Distillers to agree to produce the whiskey.
After that deal was negotiated, Audie Attar, the main shareholder in McGregor's management company, Paradigm Sports, became involved in the project, he said.
Product development
While the brand name at this point was "Notorious Irish Whiskey", it was changed to Proper No 12 when American businessman, Ken Austin, who has a background in the spirits industry, also got involved as a shareholder, he said.
Mr Lobov said it was after Mr Austin got involved that he was "totally excluded" from any emails in relation to the development of the product.
He challenged Mr McGregor at the gym meeting about his exclusion and was told he would be restored to the communications.
Mr McGregor also made the "5 per cent is yours no matter what" remark, in the presence of a number of others, and it was "confirmed by a handshake", Mr Lobov said.
Subsequently, he was not included in all the correspondence and discussions about the project, he said.
However, he continued to take part in the marketing process, including the presentation by McGregor of Proper No 12 to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the World Cup in Moscow in 2018.
In May 2020, he said he got a phone call from Mr McGregor offering him €1 million for his part in the project.
This was around the same time, Mr Lobov said, that the media reported the sale of the brand to Proximo by Mr McGregor, Mr Austin and Mr Attar.
He said he refused the €1 million offer as wholly inadequate in view of the five per cent deal.
Mr Lobov, who is now retired from fighting and has a Master's in Business and Capital Financing from DCU, said while he was no longer in contact with Mr McGregor he still believed the five per cent promise would be honoured.
He said he received a message from Mr McGregor, following a radio interview Mr Lobov gave last August, in which Mr McGregor denied the five per cent agreement for the first time. He brought High Court proceedings last month.
In a replying affidavit, Mr McGregor's solicitor, Michael Staines, said his client was denying Mr Lobov's allegations.
He also said that while Mr Lobov had provided the texts of certain messages to the court, he had not included one from February 2019 in which Mr Lobov stated: "I swear on my child's life I will NOT take a cent from the whiskey deal".
Mr Staines also said there was a considerable delay between when the brand was sold and when he brought proceedings.
Mr Justice Denis McDonald said the delay ran from April 2021, when the brand was sold, to November of this year.
There was no sufficient explanation for this, and he must refuse the application to admit the case to the Commercial Court.
