LAS VEGAS – Bobby Green’s final UFC fight takes place Saturday, but “King” will fight on.
The misconception, Green (29-4-1 MMA, 10-9-1 UFC) said at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday, is that he’s retiring. That’s not the case.
“I keep telling you I’m different,” Green told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “Let them guys be the normal guys. Y’all can be normal. I’m me.”
One of the longest-tenured lightweights on the UFC roster, Green revealed he’ll legally change his name to his longtime nickname “King” after his UFC Fight Night 222 bout vs. Jared Gordon (19-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC).
There will be no first name. No last name. No nickname.
Just King.
“I was just trying to do something different, rebrand myself, let everybody know that what I’m doing here is like, ‘Why not?’” Green said. “I woke up today and I’m like, ‘I’ve done everything I want to do, why not change my name?’ Who says, ‘Today, I’m going to change my name? F*ck it. Let’s do something different. I’m totally different than all the other guys in the lineup. That’s one thing I’m setting myself aside (by).
“Ever since I was a little kid, I never wanted to be like you guys. When y’all go left, I go right. When y’all go right, I’ll go left. Everybody told me my style wouldn’t work. Everybody told me this is different than that. I do everything different from y’all.”
Green, 36, basks in the outcast role. He thrives off uniqueness. Unlike non-combat sports, MMA is a world where being different can oftentimes be better than blending in.
“I’m the only Black guy you’re going to see with a tattoo on his head,” Green said. “I keep telling you I’m different. Let them guys be the normal guys. Y’all can be normal. … I’m at that point where I’m just me and if you know it and recognize it and see it, you go, ‘Oh, I like that guy.’ I’m doing it for those guys. The real recognize the real.”
Beyond sticking out from the pack, Green said the most important reason he wants to be called “King” is not to shove his success and wealth in others’ faces, but rather show people that it’s possible to start at the bottom and end up on top.
“That’s purpose is to show people I came from foster care,” Green said. “I didn’t have a mom. I didn’t have a dad. I’ve been in 50 different homes. I was homeless for a second, sleeping on different people’s couches and blah, blah, blah. I want to show you can go from being homeless, being a peasant to being a king. I don’t want to be cocky like, ‘Oh, you’re the king, you’re the king.’ I’m not ‘the’ king. I’m ‘a’ king. I’m a king. I built this sh*t myself off of hard work. Because all of us go through some things and we think, ‘Oh, poor me. My life is hard.’ Yeah, well, somebody else had a hard life, too. Suck that sh*t up and you can do it.
“I’m trying to be that light for someone else to be like, ‘Hey, I can do it. Bobby Green did it and he had it pretty f*cking bad. If he could do it, I could do it.’”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
‘Being a peasant to being a King’: Bobby Green explains decision to change legal name to nickname
