5 Defining Moments: Bobby Green

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.