Issue 121
November 2014
Fresh from smashing his way into the UFC top 10, the Cali lightweight takes shots at Baroni and Mayweather.
Q. Vitor Belfort prayed over you before your last fight. Can you share that experience with us?
A. “I met him when we were in the sauna, in the hot-tub area before my fight with Josh Thomson. We started to chit-chat and talk a bit. He was a really cool dude. He dropped some real knowledge on me. He said that a man’s struggle is the ‘W’. Women and the wallet. That is the man’s struggle. I just thought about that and put it in my back pocket. I asked him to pray over me and he did. That was really cool. He asked God to protect me and my opponent… and he did.”
Q. What is your mind-set as you enter the cage? Is it mental warfare, a physical chess game?
A. “Nobody knows what it’s like fighting me until you fight me. You can watch on TV, but I switch my style up for every fight. For the Josh Thomson fight I had to switch up my game altogether. And I can’t believe people were actually saying he won that fight. I went into his back yard on short notice and made a top-five ranked guy look like he was fighting his first fight. I am the one that went in there and put my 3-0 UFC career on the line against a top guy. Where is that credit at? Nobody does it like me.”
Q. How did you end up with the nickname ‘King’?
A. “I originally I got it from the T.I. album called King. The album and lyrics were basically saying about being the king of one’s self. I thought that was cool. Now it means something more to me. People say ‘King’ Bobby Green. No, that’s ‘King Mo’. I’m Bobby ‘King’ Green, as in Martin Luther King, as if it’s my actual name. I want to be known for what I do and not for what I say I’m king of. It’s about what I’ve done for the sport, what I have done for other people.”
Q. If you could choose one fight from your career that every fan should see, which fight would you choose and why?
A. “My performance against James Terry at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier because it was a growth fight for me and the fight my coaches and I had been looking for, for years. It was the first time I really started to grow as a fighter. In that fight I realized I belong in the sport and I really started to grow.”
Q. If you could fight anyone in any weight class who would it be and why?
A. “Phil Baroni, and he would get knocked out. He has been a bully in the sport for a long time. I would make that knockout look absolutely crazy.”
Q. If you could fight anyone outside the world of MMA who would you pick a fight with and why?
A. “I’d want to fight the boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. I want to show him what our road in MMA is like.”
Q. Who are some of the fighters that inspire you to become great in this sport?
A. “When it comes to inspiring me, then guys like Lyoto Machida, Nick Diaz and Anderson Silva. I’m also a Jon Jones fan. And I’m a Daniel Cormier fan, too.”
Q. What’s been the most amazing thing you’ve seen during your time in MMA?
A. “It would have to be when the UFC paid for my brother’s funeral. That is huge. I have never had a company offer to help out or do anything on that level before. For the people at the UFC to take care of that, that was huge for me and my family.”
Q. Who are your least favorite fighters in the sport right now?
A. “Definitely Norman Parke, Donald Cerrone and Abel Trujillo.”
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