The boxing vs. MMA debate is almost as old as the UFC itself, but this was not another tired argument about which sport produces the tougher fighter. With less than a month before King Green steps back into the cage against rising prospect Esteban Ribovics at UFC 332, the UFC veteran suddenly became the center of attention after a poolside confrontation with former boxing champion Marcos “Chino” Maidana nearly turned into something much uglier.
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The footage quickly blew up on social media. Maidana shoved Green into the swimming pool and tried to leave, only for Green to climb out and chase after him before security stepped in. And this was no random boxer. Maidana famously fought Floyd Mayweather twice and has even claimed to have kept one of Mayweather’s teeth as a souvenir.
“King Green was PI**ED after Marcos Maidana shoved him in the pool and ran off 😳,” read the caption on Happy Punch’s X post.
The incident reportedly unfolded during a livestream featuring Green and Maidana, with the two initially having a relaxed conversation. Green first approached the former Argentine champion to apologize over what had happened during Maidana’s sparring session with Kick streamer Oblivion the previous day. After Maidana brushed it off, Green said he wished he had been able to spar with him himself, and that is when the boxing-versus-MMA exchange began to heat up.
Green then asked Maidana to spar, but the Argentine laughed it off. “I’m the boss. We don’t want to hurt you,” he replied.
By then, Maidana appeared to have had enough. The former champion, who had recently appeared on Adrien Broner’s livestream, FaceTimed Floyd Mayweather and later knocked out Kick streamer Oblivion in a casual sparring session, dropped his bag and walked up to Green.
As Green kept talking, saying, “Anytime you want to go, you let me know,” Maidana patted him on the shoulders and suddenly shoved him into the pool before walking away with members of his team.
And if the whole scene looked chaotic, neither man was exactly new to this territory.
Getting into heated confrontations outside the cage is nothing new for King Green. Back in 2014, he nearly came to blows with former UFC fighter Phil Baroni in the crowd at UFC 170 before the situation was defused.
Years later, during UFC Austin fight week in 2023, Green was involved in another ugly hotel confrontation with Arman Tsarukyan. After Green had publicly criticized him, Tsarukyan confronted the UFC veteran and briefly grabbed him by the throat before the two were separated.
Green was not dealing with someone known for backing away from confrontation either.
During the press tour for his 2014 rematch with Floyd Mayweather, Maidana put his hands on Mayweather’s chest and shoved him during a faceoff in San Antonio. Mayweather shoved him back before members of their promotional teams stepped between them.
Their rematch later got even rougher. Mayweather accused Maidana of biting his left hand in the eighth round, something the Argentine denied. Maidana was then deducted a point in the 10th round for shoving Mayweather to the canvas.
So when Maidana dumped Green into the pool, the former champion was hardly acting completely out of character.
More importantly, the incident fits into a much more recent pattern for Green.
Over the past few weeks, he has repeatedly crossed paths with boxers while pushing his own MMA-versus-boxing campaign. Green first gained attention after getting the better of one of Adrien Broner’s protégés during a sparring session before later sharing a tense verbal exchange with Broner himself.
He then caught up with Arnold Barboza Jr., who controlled their boxing sparring session. But once they switched to grappling, Green returned the favor, taking Barboza down and forcing him to tap within seconds.
Green has made no secret of how he views the run.
“This is the first shot of the war,” Green said while discussing MMA versus boxing. “It’s the first real shot… now it’s the first shot that we’re getting back at y’all now, and y’all don’t like it.”
Against that backdrop, Maidana becoming Green’s latest target makes sense. Whether it actually leads to a sparring session or any kind of face-off is another matter.
There is currently no announced fight or sparring session between the two. For now, the poolside chaos may remain exactly that: another viral chapter in Green’s boxing-versus-MMA campaign before he turns his attention back to Esteban Ribovics at UFC 332.