Bobby Green Talks Josh Thomson Fight: Schooling Opponent, In-Fight Communication, Fighting Deaf in Left Ear

Bobby Green earned a split decision win over Josh Thomson at UFC on FOX 12, a little more than 4 years ago, on July 26, 2014. He speaks with Tony Reid about that fight.

Tony Reid – You took the Josh Thomson fight on super short notice. What was training like in the days leading up to the fight?

Bobby Green – “I fought Josh Thomson with a messed up ear. Before the fight I was sparring in the gym with (Rafael) Dos Anjos about a week before my fight. He didn’t know I was that close to a fight. He came out at 150% and was trying to kill me. I was just rolling and stuff, making him miss and then BAM, he hit my left ear. I went deaf.”

Tony Reid – So you were deaf in your left ear for the Josh Thomson fight?

Bobby Green – “Yep. In my left ear.”

Tony Reid – There was a lot of communication during the fight, some might call it trash talk…

Bobby Green – “That annoys the heck out of me when you guys call it trash talk. Maybe that’s the way some people want to label it, that’s cool. People have no idea, no idea, what was going on in that cage and what I was saying. You might hear a little bit but you have no idea what is actually transpiring in there. Josh is a veteran who has fought everybody. I made him feel like he was fighting his first fight again. There is something that happened in there. Was it just that I was talking? If I was talking then why don’t you just punch me in my mouth and shut me up then.
It irritated me when Joe Rogan said I was just talking and not firing back. He was not hitting me enough to shut my mouth. If he hit me in the jaw and I would have had to bite down on my mouthpiece. Dana said he thought Josh won the fight. I called him and said ‘Dana, please watch that fight again. And then let me know what you think.'”

Tony Reid-What is the mindset, the style you enter the cage with in the sense of the mental warfare and physical chess game?

Bobby Green – “Nobody knows what it’s like fighting me until you fight me. You can watch it on TV, I switch my style up for every fight. I switch my style for every fight. Watch every fight I have fought. As far as Josh I had to switch up my game altogether. And I can’t believe people were actually saying he won that fight. I am blown away that people think he won. I just watched the fight again. I went into his back yard on short notice and made a top five ranked guy in the world look like he was fighting his first fight. Where is that credit at? I do this stuff, I do it! Nobody does it like me!”

Tony Reid – So tell us, what was the conversation going on in the cage with Josh?

Bobby Green – “It blows me away that people think I’m trash talking. To be honest with you. I’m schooling him. Watch the video again. Every time he hits me I tell him how much he hit me. I told him ‘Oh, you hit me a little bit. Oh, you were this close.’ Or ‘Oh, no that did not land.’ People in the crowd were Oohing and Ahhing and he was not even landing any of his punches. That is so irritating. That irritates me when people get hyped up over everything. He threw a spinning back kick that barely even grazed my hand and everybody went crazy. I just told him ‘No. That did not land.’ It looks like I’m talking shit. If I was in a real fight I would have to focus on the fight but Josh was running so much I had so much time to do other things, like communicate with people. If he really wanted to fight, sit his butt down and fight. He chose to run. I chose to chase him…all round, every round.”

Tony Reid – Is there a point in the fight with Josh (or any past opponents) where after the verbal exchange you physically saw the change in your opponent. Is there a moment where you see you have broken or altered an opponent mentally?

Bobby Green – “I can’t give away my secrets. Those are the things that guys can only experience if they are the chosen one. Josh was a chosen one and I let him in to my vault and he couldn’t deal with what I was throwing at him. I told him exactly how his skills were. I told him his kicks were off. Before he threw a combination I told him what he was about to throw. I told him ‘Don’t you do that! Don’t throw that kick!’ I almost caught it. He is highly skilled, he is a technician but he knew exactly what I was talking about. That’s what killed his brain. He was thinking ‘Oh my God. This guy is the realest guy I have ever fought.'” (Laughs)

Tony Reid

In July of 2008 Tony Reid launched an MMA inspired clothing line that he named Reid Fight Wear. He saw a need in the MMA clothing market for a more classic, clean and timeless design and less of the dated styles seen then. In the process of major life changes, Tony cashed out his 401(k), emptied his bank account and put his heart and soul into building the brand. In August 2009 Tony began writing for TapouT and MMA Worldwide Magazines. There he created Rattling the Cage, an MMA specific news site and home for all of his work. In May of 2012 Reid began writing for Ultimate MMA Magazine, launching an MMA Legends and MMA Officials Series. Also in May of the same year he started appearing regularly on ESPN 92.3 WVSL as the MMA Insider. In early August of 2012 Reid was named General Manager of UFC Fighter Tim Boetsch’s Barbarian Combat Sports in Sunbury, PA. By December 2012 Reid started contributing to Fighters Only Magazine. "The World's Leading MMA and Lifestyle Magazine" is sold in over 30 countries around the world and has the largest reach of any international magazine of its type. In May of 2013 Reid became a monthly segment host on Sirius XM Radio. Appearing the first Thursday of every month on TapouT Radio on SiriusXM (Sirius 92 XM 208) in a segment he created called "On Blast!" where he puts people in the MMA world on notice. In June of 2013 Reid began writing for the UK based MMA Uncaged Magazine. In August of 2013, Reid launched "Rattling the Cage with Tony Reid" a talk radio show he hosted on ESPN 92.3 WVSL "The Valley's Sports Leader". The show aired over 100 episodes and featured some of the biggest and brightest stars in the world of combat sports. It was one of the most successful shows in the station's history. In May of 2016 Reid became a feature writer for FloCombat. In September of the same year Reid began writing for ONE Championship, Asia’s largest global sports media property in history. Reid is happy to now join the team at MyMMANews as a contributor.

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