Fighter On Fighter: Breaking Down ‘King!’ | UFC Betting Sites

UFC 291: Ferguson v Green — Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Longtime MMA veteran, Bobby Green, will throw down opposite rising contender, Grant Dawson, this Saturday (Oct. 7, 2023) at UFC Vegas 80 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Green has been a professional since 2008, and at one point in 2014, he was perhaps just a single win away from challenging for Lightweight gold. Things fell apart a bit after his Edson Barboza loss, as inconsistency and an irregular fight schedule sent Green tumbling down the rankings. Oddly enough, the pandemic turned his career back around. Since 2020, Green has been fighting more consistently, and even though he hasn’t won every fight, “King” has repeatedly proven himself a remarkably tough out even at 37 years of age.

Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

Most fighters don’t strike like Bobby Green. They don’t have the confidence or reaction time. Green is able to keep his hands by his waist and guard his chin with his shoulders to great effect, allowing him to effectively counter as opponents reach for his face and usually don’t find it (GIF).

Very few fighters are as confident in the pocket.

There is, of course, method to Green’s style, as should be expected from a man with 46 professional fights. Green drops his hands and postures to draw out his opponent’s offense with the intent of countering. If they refuse to take the bait, Green is happy to work behind his jab, looking to split the guard and dig the body. When leading, Green does a lot of work lining up the cross, commonly doubling up the jab before trying to find his opening through or around the guard. In general, Green is great at attacking what’s open, rather than forcing a strike into the guard.

What’s interesting about Green’s active range boxing — that trickery of poking high and low with the jab, threading the power hand, occasionally hooking off the jab — is that he can do it with equal fluidity and craft from either stance. Again, lots of fighters switch stances, but few can flick a jab, show off good defense (rather than just back off), and fire back from their non-dominant stance.

Green can flow from either.

Green largely does his best work from his back foot against opponents attempting to walk him down, a notable example being the smackdown he laid on Nasrat Haqparast fairly recently. Green’s footwork is the reason he’s so successful with this strategy.

While moving backward, Green is always taking little angles, either by switching stances or by taking small L-steps to one side of the other. Simultaneously, Green is shifting where his weights at, often keeping his head balanced over one leg or the other. As his opponent follows, Green is looking for a chance to snap a jab or cross, depending on which of his shoulders is closest to his foe’s chin. In addition, Green can quickly pull his head from one leg to the other, meaning he’s ready to slip if his opponent fires first.

Often, this slip and fire occur at the same time.

There are also offensive benefits to keeping one’s hands low. When Green fires his jab from the back foot, it often catches his opponent beneath the chin, raising their jawline. This has a couple consequences, both of which are positive for Green. For one, it’s difficult to fluidly continue a combination after getting jaw-jacked, so if his foe does keep throwing after taking a crisp jab, Green has an additional half-second to react. In addition, if the jab freezes his foe with his chin raised, he’s likely to absorb the follow-up cross in the mush of his face while in poor position (GIF).

In addition to interrupting his opponent with straight shots, Green will also look to slip inside and come over the top with his right hand, the classic cross counter. Lastly, Green will occasionally stop his movement and angle-chasing to stand his ground and fire back hard, an effective change in rhythm that can produce big collisions.

A solid percentage of Green’s offense comes in the form of punches, but the rest of his kickboxing arsenal is solid. On the whole, Green tends to kick more often when he switches Southpaw. Against a right-handed opponent, Green will rip the inside thigh well or attack the liver.

There are defensive risks to Green’s style, of course. For one, his boxing-oriented head movement can leave his legs vulnerable to low kicks, though he typically wears the damage well. In addition, Green’s shoulder rolling and low hand position occasionally sees him misread the situation and lean into a blow. Notably, Dustin Poirier shifted stances and doubled up on one side, catching Green leaning backward and out of position to absorb the blow.

More recently, Drew Dober walked through a ton of fire to find Green’s chin. He took a hell of a beating, but Dober continually worked Green towards the fence, where quick steps back and head movement at the waist are far less effective. Green historically has a great chin, but Dober found the target and erased all of Green’s previous good work.

Wrestling

A high school wrestler, Green does not limit himself to being a boxer. Green will shoot for takedowns, and historically, he’s scrambly as hell and difficult to control on the canvas. In fact, Green’s resurgence beginning in 2020 also coincides with a more active offensive wrestling game.

A fair percentage of Green’s takedowns come when his opponent tries to shoot on him, at which point Green is happy to reengage with his own offense. Sometimes, that means Green stuffs a double leg, works off the fence, then changes levels against the cage himself. Perhaps a bit more often, Green will work from the upper body clinch, fighting for underhooks until he’s able to secure a body lock. Once there, Green looks to win the outside knee position and slam his opponent to the canvas.

Green has slammed talented wrestlers from the body lock, so it’s definitely a strength.

Historically, Green’s takedown defense is quite good, having stopped 74% of the takedowns coming his way. He did get overwhelmed quickly by Islam Makhachev, but he also accepted that fight on just a few day’s notice, and Islam is really good! It’s hard to say that loss really means much, but a full camp against Dawson should be pretty revealing as to how difficult Green is to drag to the floor at this stage of his career.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Green’s first UFC submission win came opposite Jacob Volkmann, the would-be presidential candidate and elite wrestler who was on a bit of a tear at the time. In that bout, Green was taken down a few times, but he consistently forced Volkmann to work incredibly hard to hold onto him. By the third, Volkmann’s tank was empty. Green denied a shot, took his back, and strangled him.

Outside of that win, Green has shown front chokes inside the Octagon. When his opponents hang around his legs for a bit too long, Green will start wrapping up the neck, often with the intent of forcing them to change position rather than jumping guard.

Finally, Green submitted Tony Ferguson in his last appearance via arm triangle choke (GIF). Even a washed “El Cucuy” is not an easy man to submit — ask Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush — but Green made his job easier by pummeling Ferguson with punches and elbows for two rounds first. As Ferguson tried to scramble from bottom position, Green locked up his head-and-arm then dropped his weight, putting the former interim champion to sleep.

Conclusion

Green may not be at his absolute peak, but he’s still a crafty veteran with plenty of athleticism left in the tank. Dawson has a habit of dominating early and fading late, so the potential for a Green upset is alive and well ahead of his second main event appearance.

Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 80 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.

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