King Green Tells Esteban Ribovics They Came to Steal the UFC 332 Show
King Green told a quiet Salt Lake City room that his lightweight fight with Esteban Ribovics is the one to watch at UFC 332. The veteran stood up at Thursday’s press conference, called the room too quiet, and said the pairing came to take the night away from the rest of the card.
Ribovics spoke first, in Spanish. “Mañana va a sentir mi mano, va a sentir la presión, no va a poder hacer su juego, y se va a ir a profundidad,” he said. The translator put it in English as a promise for Saturday: “listen, on Saturday, he is going to feel my hand, he’s gonna feel the firepower, he’s not gonna know what to do, and he’s gonna feel some very deep depths.” Green smiled through the translation and raised an arm before he answered.
“Interesting, interesting,” Green said. “First of all, it’s too quiet in this motherf*er. This is a press conference.” He then turned the microphone toward the Argentine. “Shut the fck up, Mimos. Shut the f*ck up, Mimos. Let’s go, let’s go, Utah.”
A moment later he asked, “Is that the only English you speak?” and repeated the line. Ribovics answered with a question of his own. “You speak Spanish?” he said. “Poquito,” Green said. “Yeah, speak that, yeah, papa.”
Green closed the exchange with the line that framed the bout. “Let me say this right now, I’m just gonna say it right now,” he said. “This is the fight to see. Everybody knows what’s up. We came to steal the show like a thief in the night.” The clip cuts off as he starts another sentence. The backdrop behind both men listed the lightweight bout under UFC 332, Saturday, October 3, at the Delta Center, live on CBS and Paramount+.
The fight sits on a main card built around vacant flyweight gold. Natalia Silva meets Wang Cong for the title after Valentina Shevchenko told the UFC she would be out for at least a year. Deiveson Figueiredo and Payton Talbott are booked in the co-main event. The main card is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. PT, with prelims at 6 p.m. ET on Paramount+.
Green enters at 36-17-1 with one no contest, a 40-year-old who has won four in a row. That run includes a first-round rear-naked choke of Jeremy Stephens at UFC 328 and a first-round stoppage of Terrance McKinney at 4:59 of the opening frame at UFC 329 in July. Green turned 40 in September. In a fight-week interview he said he still has no home of his own despite owning nine houses and an apartment complex.
Ribovics is 16-3 and the betting favorite, listed around minus-230 to minus-250 depending on the book. The Argentine, nicknamed El Gringo, returned to the win column with a second-round knockout of Edson Barboza at UFC 330 on August 15 after a second-round arm-triangle loss to Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 327.
He has said he slept for weeks in a chamber meant to simulate thinner air, arrived in Salt Lake City 10 days early, and ran in the mountains to handle the altitude. He has also said he trains for the bonus.
Green’s translation joke and the “Mimos” tag sat on top of a straightforward prediction from Ribovics. The Argentine said Green would feel his hands, lose his game, and be taken into deep water. Green did not answer with a finish call. He told the room the lightweight fight is the one people already know is worth watching, and that the two of them intend to take the show on Saturday night in Utah.
