MANCHESTER, England – [autotag]King Green[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] is getting preferential treatment.
Green (32-15-1 MMA, 13-10-1 UFC) takes on Pimblett (21-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 304 (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) main card at Co-op Live.
Green acknowledges that he mentioned Pimblett first, but the 24-fight UFC veteran is just irked by “The Baddy’s” quick rise in popularity compared to his long road.
“The thing is the kid was getting a little too brash,” Green told reporters, including MMA Junkie at the UFC 304 media day. “I’m a humble guy. For some reason, he keeps calling me the cocky guy. He’s the cocky f*cker, but to me, it’s like I’ve earned my spot. I’ve been here for so long. I think I’m here 12 years now fighting.
“And not just 12 years where I fight once a year and I hang out, and I hang out and come back the next year. No. Consistently doing four, five fights a year. So, for me it’s a little different where I’ve earned my spot. That guy was running his mouth and doing all this barking. I’m like, ‘Who is this guy?'”
Green went on to elaborate about the UFC’s push towards Pimblett, citing his custom shorts as an example.
“I call him the spoiled kid,” Green added. “Certain kids that don’t know you got the whole house. Everything’s been built around you, and I think it goes back for me, because I didn’t have a mum and dad, I seen those kids act like that in school, like they don’t know how they treat their mum and dad.
“They’re spoiled, and he acts the same way. He doesn’t realize the UFC is working with him every opportunity. They’re building you. I had to earn it. They had to put me through the fire, forged by fire. You, they built you, and there’s a difference between us two.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.