Bobby Green calls out Dan Hooker - "If Hooker's down, I'm down"
08/10/2023 04:24
UFC Vegas 80 saw Bobby Green step into the octagon as the sizeable underdog but he shocked the MMA world with a knockout victory just 33 seconds into the fight.
'King' wasted no time in getting familiar with his opponent when he landed a massive left hand that sent Grant Dawson crashing to the canvas. Not only did Green score the win, but he also handed his tough challenger his first-ever defeat under the UFC banner.
The veteran was understandably happy with his performance and took to the mic to call for a fight on a Las Vegas card in December. During the post-fight press conference, the lightweight revealed who he'd like to face next, but first took some time to discuss his impressive showing earlier that night.
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"Quite shockingly, bro, I thought I would be like ecstatic or something, you know? I don't know if I feel like, I don't know what I feel like and everybody keeps asking me, 'How do you feel? How do you feel?' I'm not even trying to think about it." Said Green when asked about his 33-second knockout win. "I thought we were going to be having a grueling fight... People think you can just take me down, like, 'I'm just gonna grapple. I'm just gonna take him down.' My wrestling's good, kid... I think that he was tryna let me know that he's a tough guy, you know? He's tough. And that was a bad mistake he made instead of just sticking to his game plan."
When questioned on whether he had any intention to ease up on the ground and pound to preserve his cardio, Green insisted that he knew the fight was over.
"I knew it was over. I knew it was over. He came in with a shot and something that we've been seeing [is] that he kinda comes in with his forward pressure, same against [Drew] Dober... You guys are fighting on the same rhythm, you don't break your rhythm. I see you coming, I see you coming. The thing was that it was a same-time shot. He threw a shot and I just timed him at the same time and that makes it a lot harder."
Bobby Green finally revealed who he'd love to fight in December, but admitted he needs to get his hand checked before he's sure he can make it to the event which is just two months away.
"My coaches have been putting names in my ear, they said [Dan] Hooker. They want me to fight Hooker. I'm like, okay. If Hooker's down, I'm down. I'm down to even headline the prelims, I know the cards got so stacked up. I just gotta go check out my hand a little bit... Ever since Tony when I was smashing Tony's head, I kinda messed it up a little bit [during] that one. And then I was kinda like, 'I'll get through it, I'll just get through it, I'll just tough it out.' I just keep toughing [all] of this stuff out... So I'll get an x-ray and I'll know from there. But if I'm good, I wanna fight in December. I wanna be the most active fighter this year."
