UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Arlovski - May 8th

[Noah Southworth]

Nog's got to get Johnson down first. Outside of a lucky trip, I don't see this fight going to the ground unless Johnson wants it to.

[wandshogun09]

I think Nog's going to the ground on his own, sadly. And early.

 

I'm going...

 

-Lawler by TKO via bodykick - round 2.

-Rumble by KO via headkick - round 1.

-Guida vs Bermudez - fuck it's tough to call, but I've got a feeling Guida squeaks by on points.

-Thomson by decision.

-Masvidal vs Cruickshank is a tough call as well. I'm thinking Masvidal but Cruickshank has looked excellent recently.

 

This really is a cracking card.

[wandshogun09]

I apologize for the length of this post. I'd usually just link to something like this because it is a fucking long read, but sod it. You should read this.

 

Marc Raimondi (he's been on the MMA Beat a few times) has done a really great story on Bobby Green for FOX Sports' site. I'd vaguely read about his brother being killed a few months back but this brings Green's story to life. Hard not to root for Green tonight after reading this;

 

Bobby Green thought he could keep the emotions bottled up. He knew he could. Nothing was going to make him cry.

 

There isn't much Green hasn't seen. He was a foster kid from age 5 in the rough neighborhoods of Southern California's Inland Empire. Green estimates he lived in 50 different houses until he was in his early 20s. There were guns, drugs, gangs, rape — you name it, Green has been a witness.

 

This, though? This was different. This was blood. Family.

 

Green was walking through a Las Vegas hotel two weeks ago with one of his close friends. He was there to sign autographs and take photos with fans during the UFC's annual International Fight Week. But at that moment he was just someone looking for some lunch. That took him to the second floor of The Cosmopolitan. He passed by Marquee Nightclub and laid eyes on Holstein's, a burger joint.

 

"We see it," Green said, "and I break down."

 

A year earlier, Green had sat across from his younger brother, Mitchell Davis Jr., at that same restaurant. Davis took one look at the menu and slid it away.

 

"He was so mad that everything was so expensive in Vegas," said Green, a 27-year-old lightweight contender fighting on Saturday's UFC on FOX 12 card (8 p.m. ET). "The burger was $20! He didn’t want to buy anything. I was like, 'Bro, share a meal with me.'"

 

Green would have taken his brother to Vegas again this year, but never got the chance. Davis, 23, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting May 31 near his home in San Bernardino, Calif. Three other men — two of Green's uncles and a cousin — also were shot. They lived. Green's father was in the group, but avoided the spray of bullets.

 

Davis, Green said, got mixed up with gangs when he was younger, but was out of the life. Green doesn't know why his brother was targeted. He suspects he'll never find out. Green isn't too confident that police are doing their due diligence, because of the news reports painting Davis as a criminal.

 

"Just another gangbanger killing another gangbanger?" Green said. "They don't give a s***."

 

Last month, Green says, he got more terrible news. He heard through the grapevine that, in the aftermath of his brother's death, there was a hit put out on him, too.

 

Meanwhile, Green is rehabbing the ankle he badly broke in training in April and taking care of his 2-month-old baby girl, Isabella. Green gets barely two hours of sleep every night and he's shuttling back and forth between home with his wife Tabitha Swann and his coach's couch, in fear of the death threats.

 

Still, two weeks ago, Green accepted an offer to fill in for the injured Michael Johnson and fight Josh Thomson at UFC Fight Night: Lawler vs. Brown on Saturday in San Jose. Green had been preparing to face Abel Trujillo on Aug. 2 before that fight was moved to Aug. 16. Green had just nine days of training to get ready for Thomson, the No. 3-ranked lightweight in the organization.

 

"The chips are not stacked in our favor," said Green's coach Jake Benhey. "But I will tell you one thing: If anyone can do it, it's Bobby."

 

When you discover all Green has been through in his life, it's clear he has overcome much worse odds.

 

Bobby Green was born in San Bernardino to a mother who struggled with drug addiction and a father who was in and out of jail. When he was 5, his mother gave him and his immediate siblings up to the state, because as Green describes it, "she couldn't keep us and keep her habit."

 

Few names tell someone's story the way Green's can. His father is Mitchell Davis and his mother is Connie Scott. Green said his mother named him after a police officer, Ray Green, who once saved her life. He never has met the man and doesn't even know if he exists. "Bobby" comes from his father's brother, he says. His mother was angry with his father at the time, so rather than calling their son Mitchell Jr., she named him after his uncle out of spite.

 

Green says he's looking into changing his name, because he feels no association to it whatsoever.

 

"I'm just like this little lost puppy," Green said. "I've always felt like I don't fit in. I don't fit in anywhere. Where do I belong?"

 

That's a common question in Green's story. When his mother renounced her rights as a parent, Green's grandmother (on his father's side) saved him and his brother, Mitchell, giving them a home. She died when he was 14 and he and Mitchell went back into the system. The siblings were forced to separate. Mitchell ended up in nearby Rialto with an aunt. Bobby was taken in by a white family, the parents of his wrestling teammate. He was trying to carve out his own path.

 

Like all of Green's homes, it was only temporary. Green, stuck at Fontana Miller High School, committed himself to wrestling and had a part-time job bagging groceries at the nearby Stater Bros. store. But he butted heads with his foster brother and a miscommunication with the family led to him being asked to leave. They thought Green had stolen a car, but he says he had just been joyriding with his friend's vehicle.

 

"They regret it now," Green said. "But at that time, I had a lot of resentment toward them. Because I felt like, can't you just ask me to figure out what's going on? Give me a little more time to explain."

 

By that point, Green didn’t have many options. He befriended a male teacher at school and was awed by him. Here was an intelligent, respected, African-American man. He was the opposite of the gangbangers and pimps Green encountered everyday on the street. This was someone Green, nearing his high school graduation, could strive to be like.

 

"I was looking for a father figure," Green said. "I never had a dad. Here is this guy who's a college graduate. Educated. Very well off. He just flooded information into my brain. We had very intellectual talks."

 

The teacher took him in and Green was grateful. It didn't take long for the man's ulterior motive to surface, Green says.

 

"Then he starts touching me," Green said. "I was so scared. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know who to go to. He's a teacher. Who do you tell?"

 

One day, when the teacher left early for school, Green says he packed up what little he owned and left. It was his only option. He went to Rialto and reunited with his brother at their aunt's home. But there was little room for him there and even less food. He went to another aunt's home. There, 11 people were attempting to live in a three-bedroom home.

 

Green tried to make do. He just couldn’t do it. He was 18 by then, so he enrolled in the Army. The program he went into incorporated boot camp and training into 21 weeks. Green made it to week 20 as one of the best privates in his class until he was thrown out for fighting. Another miscommunication, he said.

 

Green has no regrets. He knows he would have been deployed to Iraq and isn't sure if he would have lived or died if he had gone.

 

"I thank God for everything they put me through," he said. "It made me who I was, who I am now."

 

Green enlisted with his old friend from Stater Bros., the one whose car he used to drive years earlier. Once he was expelled from the military, the friend urged him to go live with his family and Green did, for a time.

 

He left there to live with the family of a younger boy he had mentored during his high school wrestling days. The boy's mother was the victim of domestic abuse, Green said, and he would not stand for it. Green kicked the man out of the house and hunkered down.

 

"I came in, took over the home, got a job and started providing," Green said.

 

It was at that time that Green had his first child, Jeremiah, who is now 6 years old, with a girl he had been seeing for only a few months. Things didn't work out between the two of them, but Green said he still supports Jeremiah financially and sees him often.

 

Green also picked up wrestling again in his early 20s, meeting up with friends from high school and going to freestyle meets. Green, who placed in the state tournament twice in high school, was talented and flashy. He once pulled off a WWE-style hurracanrana during one of these amateur events.

 

Green was discovered as a potential MMA fighter at those events and started training at Team Tapout with Shad Smith. He bounced around a little bit, also spending time at Riverside Submission.

 

Training, though, was a loose term. Green didn’t do much of it. He didn’t like it. Most of the time he just spent hanging out, smoking marijuana and taking fights in Mexico on the weekends — as much as he could, actually. Green fought 15 times in 2008 and 2009. He knew how to wrestle, but that was basically it. Green had little striking knowledge and even less jiu-jitsu polish.

 

That wasn't the life he wanted, but it took a 90-day stint in jail to make him realize it. Green said he was busted for driving a car that didn't technically belong to him when he was 21. He said he paid for it, but didn’t have the correct paperwork. The court didn’t buy it.

 

Green wasn't a model prisoner. He admitted to passing gas in a sergeant's face while he was being searched, which landed him in solitary confinement for 10 days. It was a life-altering experience.

 

"You don't see anything," Green said. "You don’t know what time it is. That's the craziest f***ing thing."

 

He never went back to Riverside Submission. Some friends recommended Pinnacle Mixed Martial Arts in Redlands and he showed up there. Jake Benhey, the head trainer, was different from any coach Green ever had before.

 

Green still didn't like training. He fell back into his old habits of coming in maybe once a week and hanging out the rest of the time. Benhey wouldn’t stand for that. He would drive all over the Inland Empire, to the worst of neighborhoods, knocking on doors, looking for Green. And Green, a nomad if ever there was one, had plenty of options.

 

"I would show up to a house where there's eight or nine big dudes hanging out in front, probably in some type of gang," Benhey said. "And here I am, this fairly well-dressed white guy in a decent car and I'm looking for Bobby Green. All of them step up and say, 'What the f*** you need to talk to him for?'"

 

More times than not, Benhey found Green, but eventually Green quit hiding. Green hasn't left Pinnacle since, despite offers from many of the powerhouse MMA gyms. He credits Benhey for making him who he is today, the 12th-ranked lightweight in the UFC.

 

"I didn't do it because of his potential," Benhey said. "I did it because he has a good heart. This is a kid that should not become a statistic. The chips have been stacked against him for so long."

 

Benhey sees a different Green than the one who is 21-5 as a pro fighter with seven straight wins, the one who would be nearing a title shot with a win over Thomson. He sees a different Green than the one who grew up under the worst of circumstances.

 

Instead, Benhey sees the Green who goes to visit kids at the local Ronald McDonald House regularly. He sees the guy who gets a package from his sponsors and lets everyone else in the gym have at the box before he takes a single thing for himself. Benhey said Pinnacle's equipment manager is increasingly frustrated by Green, because he keeps giving his boxing gloves away to kids in the youth classes.

 

"I've watched him take the shirt off his back and give it to somebody else," Benhey said without exaggeration.

 

When asked about his brother's death, Green bristles, then falls into a long-winded story about a fellow fighter he once respected. He met the fighter last year and his first impression was awful. Green is afraid that if he outwardly expresses his pain, people might be put off. He doesn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about him. His brother's death was not going to stop him from signing autographs and meeting fans earlier this month at the UFC Fan Expo.

 

"I do realize that just because I'm hurt, my feelings, I don’t want to mess anybody else up," Green said.

 

If Green wins a bonus Saturday night against Thomson, he plans to give the money to his brother's children, setting up an education fund for them. His brother always said that if anything happened to him, Green needed to watch out for his kids.

 

"That's why he's taking this fight with Josh Thomson," Benhey said. "He's doing it basically to fulfill his brother's last wish."

 

Green hates the negative perception being given to his brother by local media. His brother was his best friend, someone he could call on any time and he would be there.

 

"He was the happiest kid on the planet," Green said. "He would change everyone's expression when he walked into a room."

 

Green can be a catalyst, too. All he wants to do is make a difference, even if it's at the ground level.

 

There's a troll on Twitter who sends racist messages to black UFC fighters like Green, Benson Henderson and Demetrious Johnson. Most have blocked him. Not Green. He's determined to engage in a dialogue with the bigot.

 

"I want to try to change the world," Green said. "Some people, you can't change their mind. But I'm going to try at least. We have to try. We have to try."

 

Green is willing to give everyone a chance. The one he never got growing up.

[Egg Shen]

Nog's got to get Johnson down first. Outside of a lucky trip, I don't see this fight going to the ground unless Johnson wants it to.

thing is, from a technical standpoint Lil Nog is probably better on the feet that Johnson in some regards, the big difference here is the power, i just see one of those big head kicks taken Nog's head off.

[wandshogun09]

That's the thing. Nog's technical boxing is better but he doesn't move well really. Doesn't move his head much and he's a bit of a plodder and not very fast really. I could see him having spells outboxing Rumble for sure, just really difficult to see how he outboxes him for 15 minutes without getting cracked.

 

If Rumble gets tired and sloppy and Nog finds a way to get him down his chances go up a fair bit but assuming Rumble fights as well or better than the Davis fight, that's also hard to envision.

 

Yeah, it's just got the feel of Nog getting laid out, hasn't it.

[Egg Shen]

thanks for posting that Green story wand. I heard in an interview that Green was going in nowhere near prepared enough to fight a guy like Josh Thomson, but reading the motivation and just going on Bobby Green's raw talent he'll give it a go, i hope he gets that bonus.

[Noah Southworth]

I’m probably going to be in the minority, but I didn’t think Lawler/Brown was a war; rather it was Robbie Lawler beating up on a very tough and game opponent who just wouldn’t go down. Matt Brown had his moments, no doubt about it, especially in the first, but the majority of the fight was Lawler brutalizing Brown and Brown not able to get much off until very late on. Matt Brown is extremely tough but Robbie Lawler is just a level above him, in all areas, and it showed. Anthony Johnson took Nogueira apart and did so very quickly. It was sad to see but it was also what you know was going to happen. Not sure where Nogueira goes from here but Johnson has to be fighting a top 10 guy next or maybe even top 5. Dennis Bermudez steamrollered over Clay Guida in a fashion I don’t think many would have expected but I don’t think many were surprised by, and Bermudez is another fighter who is a fight or two away from a the winner of Pettis/Melendez; maybe against Benson if he gets past Rafael Dos Anjos? As for Bobby Green, that was a fight that could have gone either way, and I don’t think he looked appreciably better than Thomson apart from the head movement.

[wandshogun09]

That was a fuck of a show.

 

Lawler vs Brown was a fun fight as advertised. I still rate Lawler vs Hendricks higher though. That was just a non-stop gunfight whereas a couple of the middle rounds last night cooled off a bit. But still a lot of fun to watch. Especially the first and fifth rounds.

 

I don't think I gave Brown more than a round (the 2nd), Lawler definitely deserved the win. So I had it 49-46 Lawler, but that doesn't tell the whole story really. It was competitive throughout, just Lawler had that bit more to win the rounds.

 

Hendricks vs Lawler 2 is going to be great. I hope Lawler wins. I've heard a few people saying that Lawler might benefit from Hendricks being out for a while but I don't know about that. I'm actually a bit concerned that Lawler hasn't taken hardly any time off recently. Overtraining is a real thing. And Lawler has been pretty much in one continuous training camp since probably about January when he was training for the March fight with Hendricks. Even then he'd just fought Rory in November. Then he went Hendricks in March, Ellenberger in May, Brown in July. Crazy. It makes me wonder if he wasn't a little bit burnt out last night actually, there were times where I really thought he'd go in for the kill but he didn't. Of course Brown is tough but I think Lawler could've stopped him a few times.

 

Lawler wants the Hendricks rematch on the January 3rd PPV (which is the usually stacked New Years PPV pushed back a week). Ariel said Dana said that 'sounds about right'. So at least Lawler gets a break now.

 

Rumble vs Nog went about as everyone expected. Maybe a bit quicker. Rumble is scary as fuck. Nog just never got chance to even think about getting anything going. Maybe they can try to re-book that Nog vs Shogun rematch when Nog is ready. Why not? As for Rumble, who the fuck does he fight now? Rashad's his mate, Glover's fighting Phil Davis, Shogun's coming off a loss, Hendo's off to 185, Gustafsson's out a while. All I can think is the Bader vs OSP winner but that doesn't really sound like a step up from Davis and Nog. No other choice really though, is there? He's got to fight someone.

 

Bermudez looked tremendous. He basically outcaveman'd Clay Guida. Beat him up in all areas. That knee was landing on the break every time. He was too quick, better striker and despite being smaller he was getting the better of the wrestling. Clay sticking his tongue out at the camera while in a choke attempt was pretty funny but you could see he looked kind of demoralized going back to the corner after round one. Then Bermudez polished him off in round two.

 

Real breakthrough performance for Bermudez. It's one thing looking good beating the Steven Silers and Matt Grices and Jim Hetteses, but to step up a level against someone like Guida and perform like that is very impressive. That's seven wins in a row and now he's started finishing guys as well. He's got to get a top five guy next you'd think, right? Bermudez vs Lamas?

 

Green vs Thomson was alright I guess. Wasn't a big fan of it. Green's slick and slippery and he's a really good fighter but Thomson didn't look like he had any real answer for Green's style and the fight kind of fell into a pattern of just lots of movement and talking. When they engaged it was good but it got a bit frustrating to watch at times. Big win for Green though. I definitely thought the right man won. And considering he had to cut his camp short it was a really good showing. Especially when you consider Thomson almost and probably should've got the nod over Bendo last time out.

 

Masvidal vs Cruickshank was really good. From the first few exchanges I thought it was going to be Cruickshank's night, but Masvidal's grappling made the difference. More tools overall.

 

Cummins put in one of the most dominant one sided fights I've ever seen. One judge had it 30-24 for fucks sake! When you know how rarely MMA judges give 10-8s that tells you what a mauling this was. He's got a lot to work on though. His wrestling is going to be hell for a lot of guys to deal with but he's still very raw.

 

I saw this on twitter regarding Cummins' wrestling;

Coach Mike @coachmjr

Cain Velasquez got killed by Greg Wagner in his last collegiate wrestling match. Cummins used to dominate Wagner.

Scary. Obviously Cain is lightyears ahead in MMA but that shows you what a beast Cummins is in the wrestling.

 

Kyle Kingsbury has retired following the loss.

 

Good show. One nutty stat I read - up until the Nog vs Rumble fight, the blue corner fighters went 10-0 last night. The only blue corner fighter who lost last night was Nog.

[lambyUK]

Bermudez is featherweight Noah. Guida dropped down a few fights back.

[ColinBollocks]

Terrifying power from Rumble Johnson, last night. Roy Nelson would have struggled to stay on his feet if he had to eat some of those punches. The uppercut, in particular, was nightmarish. What a great division 205 is.

On the topic of 205, it was only watching this show that I found out Gustafsson is injured (yeah, I'm a bit out the loop). Mixed feelings, as I bum DC, but I don't think there is a single fella that didn't suffer a powerful erection every time Gustafsson/Jones II fight popped in their head. My poor cock.

 

The main event was one of those "all out war" fights they harp on about, but Lawler was quite clearly the winner. Best thing for the division was Lawler winning.

[Noah Southworth]

Bermudez is featherweight Noah. Guida dropped down a few fights back.

Then perhaps give him Lamas.

 

As for Johnson's next opponent, Gustafsson won't be out that long, so it's possible they fight next. It's not the fight I would make, though,

[wandshogun09]

Speaking of Jones vs Cormier;

 

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani

Mr. @BrianStann told me the entire crowd shouted "DC, DC" when the 178 promo aired in the arena and looked at DC who was there doing FOX.

 

... He said it gave him chills. Apparently a great moment in DC's adopted hometown of San Jose. Wish they showed that on the broadcast.

Hopefully the cameras were rolling and they use the footage for the Countdown or something.

[Guy Bifkin]

Nicely summarized Wand, I'd agree with everything except I had Thompson winning. Very close though and probably the least interesting fight of the night.

 

I really enjoyed the main, even if it was a little one sided. Brown showed what a tough bastard he was eating some big shots from Lawler and surely breaking his hand in the last round. Didn't stop him throwing it though. Lawler was class though and I had him winning every round but the 2nd.

 

Bermudez is a beast. Not many fighters do that to Guida and at the risk of upsetting the board, looks a better bet for the title than Conor. Sorry!!

[lambyUK]

As you can see from my Avatar Bifkin you know at least I won't be upset (despite me fucking loving Connor too)

 

I've been bumming Bermudez since TUF and he really should have won that season if it weren't for being too naive in the Brandao fight.

 

It was a remarkable performance and to make Guida look like a chump really is something. Guida fucked me off by doing a Benson Henderson when just after he tapped he gets up and jogs around the octagon like an utter twat. Get the fuck out of the way and let the better man claim his rightful place in the spot light. Its embarrassing behaviour.

 

Bermudez for me is one win away from a title shot, but to reiterate (and to please carbomb again) he needs to run his mouth and get himself more noticed.

 

Rumbles performance was superb too and I would like to see him paired against the winner of Bader/OSP. Basically, the same reason I didn't want DC and Gusty paired, I don't want to see Gusty and Rumble against one another that effectively rules out a big title fight.

[David]

That Bermudez performance was something else.

 

Once McGregor does that to someone of the quality of a Clay Guida, then I'll buy into the hype! Fucking hell!