Long odds never scare
Bobby
Green.
The well-traveled 37-year-old will enter his latest
Ultimate Fighting Championship assignment as a hefty underdog
when he confronts the once-beaten
Grant
Dawson in the
UFC Fight Night 229 lightweight main event on Saturday at the
UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Green owns an 11-9-1 record with one no
contest across his 22 appearances inside the Octagon. He last
competed at UFC 291, where he choked
Tony
Ferguson unconscious with an arm-triangle in the third round of
their July 29 pairing. It was his first submission win in more than
a decade.
As Green approaches his headlining clash with Dawson at 155 pounds,
a look at five of the many moments that have come to define
him:
1. Punk’d
Green on July 6, 2014 made the most of a welcomed opportunity when
he took a split decision from former
Strikeforce
champion
Josh Thomson
in a competitive UFC on Fox 12 lightweight showcase at the SAP
Center in San Jose, California. All three judges put forth 29-28
scorecards: Michael Bell for Thomson, Edward Collantes and Wade
Vierra for Green. Thomson was largely reduced to a tentative
counter fighter by the former
King of
the Cage titleholder. Green marched forward with quick hands
and resolute purpose, consistently pushing the
American Kickboxing Academy export away from the center of the
cage. Thomson did his best work in the second round, where he
secured a takedown, maintained a busy pace and found a consistent
home for his right hand. Success, however, was short-lived. Green
utilized leg kicks, a strong jab and a steady diet of punching
combinations during the 15-minute scrap. He opened a cut near
Thomson’s right eye with a left hook in the third round and refused
to allow “The Punk” to get comfortable, as he kept his back to the
cage and pressed forward with punches and kicks.
2. A Notch Below
American Top Team’s
Dustin
Poirier wiped out the Pinnacle MMA rep with punches in the
first round of their UFC 199 lightweight feature on June 4, 2016 at
The Forum in Inglewood, California. In his first appearance in more
than a year, Green met his end 2:53 into Round 1. Poirier ran
circles around Green, answering his verbal taunts with deft
footwork and clean punches in tight spaces. Operating in the
shadows of the
Luke
Rockhold-
Michael
Bisping main event, he dropped Green twice, first with a left
hook. The Californian withstood Poirier’s bid for the finish but
only for a short time. Back on the feet, “The Diamond” continued
his assault, floored Green with a straight left to the side of the
head and closed the deal with subsequent ground strikes.
3. Reminder Sent
Merciless forward pressure, superb body work and a late takedown
spurred Green to a unanimous decision over
Erik Koch in
the featured UFC on Fox 27 prelim on Jan. 27, 2018 at the Spectrum
Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. All three judges struck 29-28
scorecards. Koch raced out to a lead in the first round, where he
executed a trip takedown, climbed to full mount and forced the
Californian to surrender his back. He hunted the rear-naked choke,
only to squander position in his haste to finish. Green turned the
corner in the middle stanza, as he battered the
Roufusport mainstay with clinch knees, punches and elbows in
close quarters. Koch continued to fade in Round 3. There, Green
struck for a takedown and hammered away with elbows, surviving a
desperate reversal from his counterpart before scrambling back on
top and cutting loose with more ground-and-pound. So ended a
four-fight winless streak, his longest such drought as a pro.
4. Killer Instinct Revival
Green authored his first finish in exactly eight years and wasted
little time in doing so, as he took care of “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 15 finalist
Al Iaquinta
with first-round punches as part of the UFC 268 undercard on Nov.
6, 2021 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Iaquinta checked out
2:25 into Round 1. Green lured the
Serra-Longo Fight Team standout forward and sprang his trap. He
decked Iaquinta with a jab-cross combination, sprawled out of a
desperation takedown attempt, moved to a dominant position and
closed out the former
Ring of
Combat champion with punches and hammerfists. It still ranks as
the fifth-fastest finish of Green’s 47-fight career.
5. Stuck on the Tracks
Islam
Makhachev cemented himself as the No. 1 contender for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight crown when he brushed
aside Green with punches in the first round of their UFC Fight
Night 202 headliner on Feb. 26, 2022 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Filling in admirably for the injured
Beneil
Dariush, Green succumbed to blows 3:23 into Round 1. Makhachev
engaged the former Total Fighting Alliance titleholder on the feet,
then crowded him in the clinch and secured a double-leg takedown.
From there, the outcome was a formality. Makhachev progressed to
half guard, climbed to full mount and ultimately moved to the back.
The American Kickboxing Academy star and
Khabib
Nurmagomedov disciple flattened out the defenseless Green with
crushing hip pressure before cutting loose with punches and
hammerfists to prompt the stoppage.