For Desmond Green, the long and winding road to UFC 210 was all worth it.
Green scored a split decision victory over Josh Emmett this past April in his first fight in New York – and his Octagon debut.
The former Bellator tournament runner-up and Titan FC champion had been forced to sit and watch as others fought in their home states for years while he waited for New York to legalize MMA.
“I tell everybody I’m still on Cloud 9 from that fight,” Green told UFC.com. “It literally couldn’t have been a better opportunity for me.”
The 27-year-old Buffalo native returns to action next month when he faces Rustam Khabilov at UFC Fight Night 115 in the Netherlands. Green (20-5) has won five consecutive fights since a decision loss to Andre Harrison in 2015.
“Being from New York, I’ve never really gotten to fight at home because it has been illegal here,” Green said. “Out of my 24 fights, I was always on the road – I was always the away guy – so it was so much love. I had to tell myself, ‘Focus up – you’ve got a lot of people here, but remember the task at hand.’ When I walked out and the crowd was roaring, you could feel the ground shake and I was like, ‘Damn – this is for little old me?’ It was crazy.”
