Esteban Ribovics has his eyes on the top of the lightweight division. Days after stopping King Green in the first round at UFC 332, the Argentine named Renato Moicano and Dan Hooker as the fights he wants next. He then immediately admitted he can’t stand doing callouts at all.
“I think a good fight, a fight that could have a lot of hype, would be (Renato) Moicano, (Dan) Hooker. Those fights,” Ribovics told Hablemos MMA in Spanish, in comments reported by MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura. He singled out Moicano in particular: “(Moicano) can be a fight since there’s history and people can get behind it. Moicano keeps getting away from all these guys and staying at the top.”
Then came the disclaimer. “To be honest with you, I don’t like calling out names. I don’t like it. I don’t know why,” he said. “I’d like to fight everyone. If it was up to me, I’d fight everyone at the top. It doesn’t matter the order.” Heavy described both men as top-10 opponents.
View post on X
The Green fight in Salt Lake City arrived with real heat. The two sides scuffled before Friday’s ceremonial weigh-ins, and Green’s own live stream caught it. According to Ribovics, the trouble began when Barboza Jr. shook his hand with a disrespectful attitude, asked whether he was scared, and questioned why he had missed weight. Ribovics said he answered that it was the first time he’d ever failed to make the limit and that he almost died cutting. When the two camps crossed paths again, Ribovics confronted Barboza Jr. Then Green stepped in and shoved him, Ribovics said.
“They tried to bully me and tried to be the bad boys,” Ribovics said. “They were saying we could fight here in the streets. Come on, man. Shut up.”
On fight night he settled it on the main card. Ribovics dropped Green several times, and referee Herb Dean had to separate him while he was still jawing at the veteran. Ribovics called it the most satisfying win of his career “because this was the first time they tried to bully me and treat me disrespectfully.” He said he couldn’t remember exactly what he was yelling at Green in that moment.
The win moves Ribovics to 17-3 overall and 6-3 in the UFC. It’s his second straight stoppage after he finished Edson Barboza. Before that run, he lost to Mateusz Gamrot in April on short notice. Green falls to 36-18-1.
The problem is timing, because both of his targets are already booked. Moicano headlines a UFC Fight Night against Tom Nolan on Halloween. Hooker meets Brian Ortega at UFC Qatar next month. If Ribovics wants either one, he’s waiting on those results.
My take: Hooker is the fight to make. Moicano has the backstory Ribovics mentioned, but the Hooker fight would be a pure firefight between two men who walk forward. It also asks the right question of a guy who has finished his last two opponents. The Gamrot loss came on short notice and shouldn’t count much against him. He has now put away Barboza and Green, two of the toughest gatekeepers at 155, so he has earned a ranked name. He also needs to make weight next time, since a missed cut is the easiest excuse the matchmakers have for slowing him down. Watch Moicano and Nolan on October 31. The answer starts there.
