Esteban Ribovics had a costly weight miss ahead of UFC 332, which cost him a portion of his purse and at least $25,000 in bonus money as he went on to finish King Green.
However, Ribovics insists that there was some weirdness with his cut. A day ahead of official weigh-ins, Ribovics and his team were working to prepare him for a Friday morning weight cut, but whatever they did, it wasn’t enough as Ribovics went on to register 0.5 pounds over the limit (his bout with Green was changed to a catchweight
with Ribovics forfeiting 20 percent of his purse as penalty and becoming ineligible to win any post-fight bonuses).
Ribovics defeated Green by first-round knockout and later explained to reporters that there was an issue with the workout room that made it difficult for him to sweat off the pounds.
“On Thursday, there’s something that we do, we do everything we could to get to a certain number, just to cut some stuff on Friday, but they turned on the air conditioning while we were just doing it and basically I stopped sweating,” Ribovics said via a Spanish translator. “At one point, ‘We have to leave this for tomorrow,’ I stopped sweating because of it, so we got cold and just stopped sweating.”
Ribovics laughed when he was asked whether the sudden burst of AC was sabotage arranged by Green and boxer Arnold Barboza Jr. The two have become partners in online streaming, and broadcasted a confrontation with Ribovics and his team ahead of the fight.
Some of that remaining tension boiled over into the finish of the bout as Ribovics and Green jawed at each other as the fight was waved off, though the two quickly made amends moments later.
“I said to him, ‘Keep talking, keep talking,’ but it’s for the day before. … It’s from the other thing, it’s not Bobby, it’s the boxer guy,” Ribovics said in English. “I honestly saw nothing of him. I stopped following him on my social media, I don’t saw nothing. If I saw a little bit, it’s because my friend showed me the training because he filmed the training, but honestly, I don’t saw nothing, I don’t care what he do in his life.”
Ribovics has now won consecutive fights for the first time since 2024, and could be poised for a bump up the rankings after knocking out legends Green and Edson Barboza. However, he’s not making any bold proclamations or callouts just yet.
“I don’t like to call out names,” Ribovics said in Spanish. “I’ll tell you that after that fight against [Mateusz] Gamrot, things clicked in my head, and I just became more professional, improved a lot of things to be ready for whenever and I can tell you I am ready. If called upon, I will face anyone.”
