Despite everything pulling him in different directions and keeping him constantly on the go, Green always turns up locked in and ready to go, and this weekend in Las Vegas, he has a little additional motivation propelling him into the Octagon.
The pairing with McKinney is an explosive one on paper — a matchup between the perpetual showman Green and the ever-explosive McKinney, who has never been to the scorecards in his 26-fight career, with 11 of his 13 UFC appearances ending in the opening frame. But there are tensions between the two — or at least there are on Green’s side, as the divisional stalwart has taken umbrage to the Spokane, Washington native being ready to face him.
“He’s supposed to be the homie and s***,” Green said. “I’m sorry to say it, but there aren’t too many Black guys in the sport, so when there is one, I’m like, ‘Hey, come here.’ I remember meeting Terrance the first time he came into the UFC, put my arm around his shoulder and told him like, ‘Listen, don’t do this, be careful with this; make sure you work, and you’re out there challenging yourself, taking every fight they give you because if not, they’ll put you on ice.’ I was giving him the game, you know?
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“I’ve always tried to be good with all the Black fighters, and he’s one of them because there’s so many opportunities to be other places. He hit me up like, ‘Hey, they want me to fight you,’ and I was like, ‘What? Why do you wanna fight me? I thought we were friends? What’s going on with that?’
“I feel like this shine that you’re talking about with the UFC getting behind me, now it’s like, ‘I gotta take that guy’s spot and be the Black guy.’” continued Green. “But you don’t know how hard I worked to get here. You still got a whole bunch of time; you’ve only been here like three years. I’ve been here 14. Put your time in and go earn your way, earn your own stuff. Why you wanna s*** on your friend and try to shut me out?”
Green shook his head, pausing before continuing to detail the situation.
“He was like, ‘Okay, I’m not gonna do it.’ He called me back a week later like, ‘They’re offering me the fight,’ and I was like, ‘Okay m*****f*****; I told you what’s up, but now I feel like you’re playing with me. I feel like you think I’m an easy fight.’
“I think he just wants to swing on Conor McGregor’s ***** and say he was on a Conor McGregor card,” he added. “But it’s like, ‘You’re gonna do that to jeopardize our friendship? Jeopardize your legacy or my legacy?’
