Bobby Green, Lando Vannata (©UFC)

Bobby “King” Green, 33, of Redlands, California, United States was one of the winners at “UFC Fight Night 173,” which was also called  “UFC on ESPN+ 31” and “UFC Vegas 5.” The Californian mixed martial artist fought Lando “Groovy” Vanata, 28, of Toms River, New Jersey, USA for the second time.

Featuring eight MMA matches, “UFC Vegas 5” took place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on August 1, 2020. In the fifth bout of the evening, Green and Vanata battled it out in the lightweight division.

Herb Dean served as the referee. After three five-minute rounds, the lightweight contest was left in the hands of the three judges.

Two judges scored it 30-27 while one judge saw it 30-26 all in favor of the fighter in the blue corner. In the end, Dean raised the hand of Green, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

The lightweight bout between Green and Vanata was the first bout on the main card. It was declared the Fight of the Night while Vicente “The Silent Assassin” Luque, 28, and Jennifer Maia, 31, both fighting out of Brazil, were the recipients of the Performance of the Night bonuses.

Four countries were represented at “UFC Vegas 5” namely Brazil, Jamaica, Scotland and the U.S. Luque and Maia were two of the 13 fighters who represented the host country.

It was a rematch between the two lightweights. Their first encounter was at “UFC 217” at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on October 7, 2017.

Also refereed by Dean, the first fight between Green and Vanata ended in a split draw. The first judge scored it 29–27 in favor of Vannata and the second judge scored it 27–29 in favor of Green while it was a tie for the third judge who saw it 28–28.

Winning at “UFC Vegas 5” improved the professional MMA record of Green to 26 wins, 10 losses and 1 draw. On the other hand, Vannata now has 11 wins, 5 losses and 2 draw.

Born in San Bernardino, California on September 9, 1986, Green is now based in Redlands. He attended A.B. Miller High School in Fontanta, California and San Joaquin Valley College (SJVC) Ontario in Ontario, California.

Competing professionally since 2008, Green joined the UFC in 2013. The Redlands resident previously competed in Total Fighting Alliance, Ultimate Challenge Mexico, Valor Fighting, Cage of Fire, Warriors Fighting Championship, Affliction, King of the Cage, Respect in the Cage, Tachi Palace Fights and Strikeforce.