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King Green sends message to Mauricio Ruffy after losing by viral KO at UFC 313

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Chris De Santiago | Last updated Mar 10, 2025 4:00 PM ET

All things considered, King Green is handling his last loss well.

Longtime UFC lightweight Green tried to bounce back from a submission loss to Paddy Pimblett in his return at UFC 313 over the weekend. There, Green faced off against another exciting prospect from The Fighting Nerds in Mauricio Ruffy.

Things didn't go according to plan for Green, the 38-year-old slumped by a spinning wheel kick a little over two minutes into the very first round. Ruffy earned a $50K performance bonus on top of the highlight-reel KO.

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King Green Wishes The Best For Mauricio Ruffy

Suffering his sixth career loss by knockout in 51 fights, Green gave Ruffy props for putting him out in the way that he did.

"This is the game we play," Green said on his Instagram story. "There's wins, there's losses. This is how it goes. You know, shout-out to Ruffy. You did your thing brother. I'd like to see you have success in your future, obrigado [thanks]."

"Shout out to everybody that arrived with me and came through this whole thing. Man, I love all you guys. I thank you so much for supporting me through all this b*******."

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Green Says Retirement Can Wait

2-3 in his last 5, Green is confident he'll return to the win column in due time, not wanting to hang up the gloves just yet.

"We're not done. Felt I just need some more time to get myself back used to being in the cage. We'll be back, I promise you that."

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King Green has rebounded from KO's before, most recently at UFC 300 where he put on a career-best performance against Jim Miller months after a pummeling loss to Jalin Turner.