King Green completed the mother of all comebacks with a first-round knockout of Terrance McKinney on Saturday during the UFC 329 main card, which took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Just a few months shy of his 40th birthday, Green wore McKinney down, pummeled him to the body, and then landed a succession of right hands to force the 31-year-old to turn his back.
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It was an incredible rally, with Green (36-17-1, 1 NC) coming from behind while bloodied and almost beaten after McKinney pieced him up with a number of punches, causing significant damage. If you listened to Green, though, it was nothing but flesh wounds, as he trash-talked McKinney mid-fight, repeatedly calling him a “one-minute b****,” despite being second-best for much of the round.
“I felt him slowing down, so it was only a matter of time before I caught up to him,” Green, 39, said on the mic.
Green, indeed, caught up to him, closing the show with a body shot and a barrage of right hands to force a finish just one second before the bell.
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But it was a result he had to fight for, as the veteran lightweight was cut early in the opener, absorbed shots to the body, and almost succumbed to McKinney’s takedown, mount, and ground-and-pound midway through the round.
McKinney (18-9), though, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as he failed to capitalize on a blood-soaked Green, who scrambled free from McKinney’s submission attempt, returned the fight to stand-up, and forced McKinney to turn his back when he hit him to the body, and then repeatedly with his right hand to the head.
It was all over.
Victory advanced Green’s improbable late-career surge to four consecutive wins, following triumphs over Lance Gibson, Daniel Zellhuber and Jeremy Stephens.
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“I feel great,” said Green, before making his play to compete at the UFC 331 card at the Intuit Dome. “I want to fight on the LA card in September, and can do this all year long.”
Other results from the UFC 329 event included Robert Whittaker’s spectacular, jaw-breaking win over Nikita Krylov, Gable Steveson’s first-round knockout win in his UFC debut, and Adrian Yanez’s finish of former champion Cody Garbrandt.
Check out complete UFC 329 results, highlights and round-by-round updates here.
