Bobby Green reveals why he's legally changing his name to 'King', says it's not to be "cocky or arrogant" (Exclusive)

Bobby Green is one of the UFC lightweight division's most beloved fighters. The hard-hitting 155'er will face Jared Gordon this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 222. Back in February, Green announced via Instagram that he planned to retire after the bout. What he meant, however, was that he was retiring his surname.

Instead, he'll be reborn as King, an homage to his nickname 'King'. In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Andrew Whitelaw, the 155'er spoke about his reasoning behind the name change.

According to Bobby Green, his decision comes down to having agency over one's own life and wanting to do something different.

Watch the full interview below:

"Just doing something different. Why the f*ck not, you know? Like, it's just like life, you know? Like, who gets up and says they'll change their name? Like it's just something to do, something different, you know? Shake things up, rebrand myself and let everybody know that you can go from being a poor peasant to being a king. Just put in hard work, you know?"

He also hit back against the idea that his decision could be based on cockiness or arrogance:

"Some guys take it like, 'Oh, you're trying to be the King', you know? Like a cocky or arrogant thing. It's not the king, it's just I'm a king, you know? And that's really it, and if you don't respect me enough to call me by a name that I legally changed and spent money to, we don't even need to have a conversation."

Come Saturday, Bobby Green will make his first 2023 appearance inside the octagon, hoping to snap a two-fight losing streak.

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What did Bobby Green once say about UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev?

Bobby Green and future UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev faced each other in February 2022. The bout, as expected, went the Dagestani phenom's way as Khabib Nurmagomedov's protege scored a dominant first-round TKO win. After the loss, 'King' spoke about his experience fighting Makhachev.

He raised questions about the nature of his foe's strength. He even went as far as claiming that the reigning 155 lbs champion has been taking PEDs since his childhood years.

"Imagine if you gave someone steroids from the age of 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, how strong you would be."

While 'King' may want to avenge his loss to Makhachev, he has a long way to go to work himself back up the lightweight ladder. First, he has to get through Jared Gordon this Saturday.

Tune-in: Watch the LIVE coverage of UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes on Sony Sports Ten 2 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels at 4:30 am IST on 23rd April, 2023