Green Refuses Dawson Handshake, Tempers Flare

Bobby Green has a chip on his shoulder (or maybe a botfly in his thumb).

Either way, “King” refused to shake hands with fellow UFC Vegas 80 headliner Grant Dawson ahead of their five-round showdown, airing on ESPN+ tomorrow night (Sat., Oct. 7, 2023) at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both fighters made weight at the UFC Vegas 80 weigh ins earlier this morning (get full results and video here), as did middleweight co-headliners Joe Pyfer and Abdul Razak Alhassan.

Check out their face off below:

“There are guys in the lightweight rankings that I don’t even consider being in the lightweight rankings,” Dawson said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “Because there’s no chance of me fighting them. For example, if Conor and Chandler fight each other – which I still don’t think is going to happen – but if does happen, and Conor knocks out Michael Chandler, and they put him [ranked] at No. 5, I don’t consider him No. 5. Because there’s no way they’ll ever put Grant Dawson against Conor McGregor.”

“There’s really no point in him being ranked,” Dawson continued. “I don’t think Michael Chandler is in that boat, either. I don’t think Michael Chandler is in the position where he fights somebody that isn’t a huge draw. I’m a realist. I get it. I’m not a huge draw. I’m an up and comer. I haven’t proven myself yet. There’s no way Michael Chandler fights a guy like me.”

Starching Green would go a long way in changing that.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 80 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 80 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here. For the updated and finalized “Dawson vs. Green” fight card and ESPN+ line up click here.