In a battle of lightweight veterans at UFC on ESPN 11, Bobby Green would come out on top in a hard fought victory over Clay Guida.
Veterans Clay Guida and Bobby Green took center stage in the featured preliminary fight at UFC on ESPN 11. The long-serving pair had a bit of history, having been booked to fight once before. Green, however, had been forced to pull out, prompting Guida at the time to call him “Bobby Yellow.” Yet animosities appeared to have been thrown aside ahead of this fight. Instead, the big question would be whether Guida would opt to trade with Green, or go the wrestling route, something Green predicted ahead of the affair.
That prediction proved astute. Bobby Green started off by taunting and talking to Clay Guida almost immediately. Guida dove in on a takedown and while he was stuffed by Green at first, he would get a big slam takedown on his second attempt. Guida would have the back briefly, but Green would fight back to his feet and look for a guillotine that Guida would roll out of. Green was using his jab to great success early and keeping Guida on the outside. Guida looked to land the right hand and ate a huge right from Green while moving backward. Guida would shoot in on a takedown and get another big slam, and get the back once again. Green would shake him off the back, but the round would end with Guida on top.
Bobby Green landed a front kick up the middle to start round two, and Guida just shook his head and acted like he wasn’t hurt despite eating a clean kick to the face. Green would get the fight into the clinch and land a few big knees that might’ve hurt Guida. Green got into the clinch again and landed some more knees, and Guida shot in for a takedown — that was stuffed. Guida would shoot in again but would get caught in a guillotine attempt by Green. Guida would have a good ending to round two despite how rough it was prior, getting a takedown and the back in the final seconds.
Clay Guida would open up round three with another big slam takedown. Green would grab a kimura off of his back, and use it to get the fight back to the feet. Green landed a nice leg kick, and right hand but Guida would shoot in on him and get the takedown. Green would recover and end up on top, but Guida kept working from the bottom for the takedown. The two would return to their feet, but looked like the high output from the two of them was starting to wear on them. Guida would shoot for a takedown in the final seconds, but Green would grab onto a kimura and hold that until the end of the fight.
Taking a unanimous decision win, Bobby Green had his hand raised at UFC on ESPN 11 for the first time since his 2018 win over Erik Koch.
Official Result: Bobby Green def. Clay Guida by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
