Longtime UFC lightweight King Green trashed Khamzat Chimaev and Islam Makhachev for their wrestling-heavy fighting styles inside the Octagon.
Speaking to the “Love & War” podcast with UFC Hall of Famer Dominick Cruz, Green blasted Chimaev and Makhachev for their fights against Dricus du Plessis and Jack Della Maddalena, respectively, where they essentially controlled their opponents on the ground for 25 minutes without many attempts to finish the fight. Green doesn’t like that style of fighting, and he made sure to let that be known.
“I get into it a lot with the wrestlers, like the Russian guys. I’m trying to explain to them, they’re competitors. They’re not making art. They’re not trying to make something timeless that this is a great fight that I actually want to go back and watch later on. … I feel like Chimaev, Islam’s last fights, those were some of the most horrible title fights I’ve ever seen,” Green said (via MMAFighting.com).
Green Says He Can Wrestle, but Prefers Not To
When speaking to Cruz, Green explained that while he knows how to wrestle, he prefers to stand and trade because the fans like watching strikers more than grapplers. That being said, he’s been showing off his grappling chops lately, including when he submitted Stephens, in an effort to put his critics to rest.
“I had this big-ass argument with Joe (Rogan), Joe’s like, ‘I like the grappling and stuff.’ Yeah, I get that, there’s nothing wrong with those things, but personally, I never wrestled. I never really wrestled. I can wrestle, the first thing I did, my base is wrestling. But I understood that the audience isn’t looking for that. The audience is looking for the knockouts, those are the things that they want to see, so we have to put those things away,” Green said.
“So I wasn’t knocking those guys who do those things, but I’m like, ‘If you’re going to do those things, you need to make them exciting.’ Now lately I’ve been showing I can wrestle because they’ve been clowning me and saying, ‘Send him to Dagestan, send him to Dagestan,’ ‘I can’t wrestle, I can’t wrestle.’ It’s like, no, I never even really think about wrestling because I’m thinking more so about fighting, but now I’ll show you if I’m going to do that style, this is what it’s supposed to look like. You’ll see me get on top, I don’t waste no time trying to hit you. I don’t waste time at all. I’m going after you, where I’ll see guys hugging and in positions and just kind of stalemating each other out. No, there’s still supposed to be action there that makes the viewer want to see that, too.”
What’s Next for King Green?
Don’t look now, but the 39-year-0ld Green has won his last three fights in a row, including back-to-back stoppage wins over Daniel Zellhuber and Jeremy Stephens. That could set him up for someone ranked in the top 15 of the lightweight division for his next fight, as he’s earned the right to fight someone in the rankings.
Following his win over Stephens at UFC 328, Green said he is interested in fighting Renato Moicano, the No. 9-ranked lightweight in the UFC. Given Moicano is currently without an opponent, that’s a fight that makes a lot of sense between two veteran fan favorites, so let’s see if the UFC ends up booking it.
King Green Takes Shots at Khamzat Chimaev & Islam Makhachev