Bobby Green, 40, is enjoying the finest run of his UFC career, on a four-fight win streak as he prepares to face Esteban Ribovics at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City. After defeating Lance Gibson Jr by split decision last December, Green has recorded stoppage wins over Daniel Zellhuber, Jeremy Stephens, and Terrance Mc Kinney. Victory over Argentina's Ribovics would make it four wins from as many fights in 2026, leaving him one win away from joining an exclusive group of fighters to record five wins in a calendar year.
Yet that appears unlikely to satisfy him. "I get the business and I understand it. There's nothing wrong with that. But I'm not moving," Green said. "I'm not going anywhere.
You're going to keep giving me this money." There are few sports that contrast the bright lights of fight night with the harsh realities of everyday life more starkly than mixed martial arts, and Green has been reminded of that in the build-up to UFC 332. In September, fewer than six weeks after pocketing a $100,000 (£75,690) Performance of the Night bonus for his knockout of Mc Kinney at UFC 329, Green revealed he was temporarily without a home and was living out of his car. The situation was met with widespread confusion from the UFC community, including president Dana White, after Green had previously said he had used his career earnings to acquire a number of properties.
Green has since said he had been left without permanent accommodation after all nine of the other properties were occupied by friends, while a break-up with his partner derailed plans to move into another property. "So about the homeless thing. I am homeless, but I'm not houseless. I can go to anyone's house," Green said on social media. "I just don't have my home, and I put everybody else before me, just to make sure all my family was taken care of, my friends were taken care of." After a chaotic couple of months for Green, it is little wonder the octagon has felt more like home than ever before.
Saturday promises to be a pivotal moment that could go some way towards writing the next chapter of Green's storied career. The veteran is entering the final two fights of his current deal with the UFC and has acknowledged his performance against Ribovics could define what comes next. After defeating Mc Kinney to match the longest winning streak of his UFC career since 2014 (four fights), Green was keen to be matched against a top-15 opponent in the lightweight division in a bid to reclaim his place in the rankings for the first time since July 2024.
But at 40 years old, Green knows his place in the food chain and accepts he is likely to be used as a yardstick for up-and-coming prospects. "It's an out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new business," Green said. "Our pay-checks go up, so we've got to get the new guys in to get us guys out of there. Do you know what I mean?" It's just business. They've got to cut the pay down, keep it to a certain amount.
And so if they get rid of some of us guys and make new stars, why not?" During his media appearances this week, Green made no secret of his dream to one day fight for the symbolic BMF title. The BMF title is awarded to the 'baddest' fighter in the UFC and has been competed for five times since its inauguration in 2019. With only a couple of fights left on his deal and currently outside of the rankings, his chances of being matched against...
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing