California Boys Almost Didn’t Fight

“The Tarantula’s” upcoming return at UFC Austin almost didn’t happen.

On Thanksgiving (Thurs., Nov. 24, 2023), UFC CEO Dana White announced that the new co-main event for next weekend’s fight night, UFC Austin, will be Top 15 Lightweights Bobby Green vs. Jalin Turner due to Green’s original opponent Dan Hooker breaking his arm.

In a recent interview with the JAXXON Podcast, Turner revealed he initially turned the fight down.

“Nobody was stepping up. The [UFC] asked me. I said no, in the beginning, and then came back with something, and I was like hmmm,” Turner said. “It’s like, it is what it is. I don’t turn fights down. You know, like, respectfully, since we’re from the same area, I didn’t want to; that’s why I said no, in the beginning. But you know, they came up with a counteroffer, and they like told me some stuff like, like, dang, I’m kind of like in a position where I feel I have to take it if that makes sense.”

Both Green and Turner are from the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside) in California. While the two Lightweights have never trained with each other, they definitely know of each other.

“I’ve been watching Bobby for years. I look up to Bobby like, the same way I looked up to Dan Hooker before I fought him too, you know, I know what they bring to the table,” Turner said. “We’re all in the same division. We’re all in the top 15. We’re more than likely gonna cross paths, regardless, at some point in time, so that’s how I look at it…It’s an honor. You know what I mean? Like, at the end of the day, it’d be more of an honor to share the octagon with him versus, like, thinking about, ‘Oh, he’s gonna do this. I’m gonna do that.’”

Turner is coming off a war against Dan Hooker at UFC 285, in which he lost a split decision, and is on the first two-fight skid of his UFC career. Meanwhile, Green is coming off a 33-second knockout of Grant Dawson at UFC Vegas 80.

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