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MMA and UFC fans have weighed in on the recent Draymond Green-Rudy Gobert altercation. Green, a popular American basketball great, has garnered a reputation for getting into altercations with his opponents on the basketball court.
The 33-year-old four-time NBA champion plays for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA. On Tuesday (November 14, 2023), his latest scuffle transpired at the Golden State Warriors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves NBA game. The intense back-and-forth game, which was a part of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament, witnessed the Timberwolves emerge victorious with a 104-101 score.
The Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and the Minnesota Timberwolves' Jaden McDaniels were ejected during the game. Thompson and McDaniels got into a tussle mid-game, with both players pulling one another's jerseys.
The Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert entered the fray and apparently attempted to break the fight up. However, Draymond Green seemed to perceive that as an act of aggression against his teammate, Klay Thompson.
Draymond Green attacked Rudy Gobert from behind, locking in a rear-naked choke. Other players from both teams separated Green from the 31-year-old French basketball player. Gobert fell to the ground but was immediately helped up.
With Draymond Green ejected owing to the altercation, Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels, too, ended up being ejected.
The MMA community has now jestingly suggested that Draymond Green, who has a tendency to get into tussles, should transition to MMA and compete in the UFC. One fan proposed a fight between Green and newly crowned interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. Responding to a tweet regarding the Green-Gobert chokehold, the fan tweeted:
"Damn Tom aspinall got a new HW contender coming for that strap Green 6’6 230"
Furthermore, one fan tweeted a meme video featuring UFC CEO Dana White and analyst/commentator Laura Sanko on one side and an image of Draymond Green on the other.
The video appeared to be from a DWCS (Dana White's Contender Series) backstage interview, wherein White was expressing his eagerness to see a prospect fight in the world's premier MMA organization. It jokingly insinuated that White was impressed by the Green-Gobert chokehold and looks forward to a potential Draymond Green MMA run.
Check out a few screenshots of the fan reactions to the Green-Gobert incident below:
Draymond Green headlocks Rudy Gobert: Is the NBA star a UFC fan?
The consensus is that an MMA bout between Draymond Green and Tom Aspinall is far-fetched and unlikely to materialize anytime soon. Nevertheless, it's believed that Green could try his hand in smaller MMA organizations, akin to many other sportspersons who've transitioned to the sport of mixed martial arts from another sport.
For his part, Draymond Green seems to be no stranger to MMA. Back in October 2020, he'd tweeted his support for Khabib Nurmagomedov. On that note, after the Green-Gobert headlock incident this week, a Twitter user revisited Green's 2020 tweet and alluded to the basketball player being an MMA fan:
"Three years in the making"
