was not directed at him.
Ribovics and Green collided at UFC 332 on Saturday in Salt Lake City. Ribovics knocked Green down three times en route to a first-round TKO. Their teams clashed before the meeting after tempers flared over Ribovics’ weight loss and the Argentine has now dealt with bad blood.
Esteban Ribovics says his last words after stopping King Green were directed at Arnold Barboza Jr.
Ribovics yelled at Green as the referee Herb Dean
stopped the match. Later, however, they embraced and showed mutual respect. Ribovics later revealed that he told Green, “Keep talking,” after Dean stopped the fight, referring to the UFC veteran’s habit of talking to opponents during bouts.
Ribovics prepared to speak to Green in the cage by having his teammate mimic it in sparring. The Argentine lightweight revealed that his latest trash talk wasn’t even meant for Green; rather, it was aimed at professional boxer Arnold Barboza Jr., a friend of Green’s, after their altercation outside the fighter’s hotel the day before.
“He talked a little bit of trash, but that’s his game,” Ribovics said at the post-fight presser. “I knew he was going to do it. I prepared for it. My partner did the same in training. I came prepared for it … I told him, ‘Go ahead.’ That was the other day. But it’s not Bobby. It’s a boxer.”
Esteban Ribovics reveals what he yelled at King Green
after his TKO win at #UFC332 “I told him, ‘Keep talking.’ It was the other day. But it’s not Bobby. It’s a boxer.” https://t.co/8SC7B2mpro– MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting)
October 4, 2026