The Bobby Green Origin Story: Foster Care, a Murdered Brother, and a Name Change to Leave It Behind

Bobby Green just won at UFC 328 tonight in Newark. The crowd was loud. The performance was vintage. And most of the people watching have no idea what this man has been through to get to this point in his career.

His real name isn't even Bobby Green anymore. He legally changed it to King Green in 2024 because he wanted to bury the name that carried all the trauma. New name. New identity. Same fighter who's been surviving since he was five years old.

Let me tell you who this man actually is though.

San Bernardino

Bobby Ray Green was born September 9, 1986 in San Bernardino, California. If you know anything about San Bernardino, you already know the environment. It's one of the poorest cities in Southern California. High crime. High poverty. The kind of place where the path to a normal life is narrow and most kids never find it.

His father Mitchell Davis was incarcerated for most of Bobby's childhood. His mother Connie was a drug addict who couldn't take care of her children. By the time Bobby was five years old, he was in the foster care system.

Five years old man. Let that number sit with you. Most of us at five were worried about what cartoon to watch. Bobby was being moved to a stranger's house because neither of his parents could keep him safe.

He estimates he lived in 50 different homes before his early 20s. Some were okay. Some were terrifying. In a 2014 feature with Fox Sports, he described what those homes looked like: "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." Guns, drugs, violence. Every type of danger a kid shouldn't have to navigate and Bobby was navigating it alone.

His grandmother raised him when she could. She was the one constant. But the system kept moving him. New house, new neighborhood, new set of dangers, same kid trying to figure out how to survive.

The Teacher

This is the hardest part of his story to write and I'm only including it because Bobby told it publicly. He chose to share this. It matters for understanding who he is.

During high school, Bobby found a male teacher who became a mentor figure. An educated, respected, African American man. Everything Bobby's father wasn't. Bobby looked up to him. Trusted him. Craved the attention and guidance he'd never gotten from his own parents.

"I was looking for a father figure," Bobby told Fox Sports. "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."

Then the teacher started touching him.

"I was so scared. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know who to go to. He's a teacher."

I'm not going to dwell on this section because Bobby has said what he wanted to say about it publicly and there's nothing I can add that makes it less painful. But when you watch Bobby Green fight and you see the aggression, the reckless energy, the willingness to take damage just to give damage back, this is part of what's underneath. A kid who was failed by every adult who was supposed to protect him found a cage where the violence finally had rules and a referee and a bell.

The Coach Who Showed Up

Bobby started wrestling his sophomore year at A.B. Miller High School in Fontana. He was raw. Unpolished. But he was fast, he was tough, and he had the kind of scrappiness that comes from years of survival that no training camp can replicate.

His coach Dean Benhey saw something in him. Not just athletic potential. Heart. "I didn't do it because of his potential," Benhey told Fox Sports. "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."

When Bobby would disappear and skip training, Benhey would drive into the neighborhoods to find him. A fairly well dressed white guy pulling up to houses with gang members standing out front asking for Bobby Green. Benhey didn't care. He kept showing up.

Bobby hasn't left Benhey's gym since. Despite offers from powerhouse MMA camps, he stayed with the man who drove into dangerous neighborhoods to bring him back. Loyalty like that doesn't come from contracts. It comes from someone proving they're not going to leave.

Mitchell

In May 2014, Bobby's younger brother Mitchell Davis Jr. was shot and killed in a drive by shooting. Mitchell was in the driveway working on a car with his relatives when a Black Honda Accord drove by and sprayed the area with bullets.

Bobby was over an hour away when the call came. He didn't make it home in time.

Mitchell had been involved with gangs when he was younger. Bobby had used his fight money to help push his brother away from that life. Mitchell was doing better. He was trying to be a family man. Bobby described him through tears: "This guy was a good dude, man. He loved his family. He was doing the right thing. And they shot him. They just killed him like nothing, like he meant nothing."

A month later, Bobby learned through the grapevine that a hit had been put out on him too. In the aftermath of his brother's death, someone decided Bobby was also a target. He was sleeping on his coach's couch, shuttling between Benhey's place and home, afraid for his family's safety while also trying to take care of his newborn daughter Isabella. He was getting two hours of sleep a night bro.

His older brother Charles was shot in a separate incident. Charles survived but the Green family was under siege and Bobby was the one holding it together while simultaneously preparing for UFC fights.

He fought less than three months after Mitchell's death. He wasn't ready. He lost to Josh Thomson. But he showed up. Because that's what Bobby Green does. He shows up.

The UFC Career

Bobby turned pro in 2008 and fought his way through King of the Cage and Strikeforce before the UFC signed him in 2013. And from the moment he arrived, he was one of the most entertaining lightweights on the roster.

His fighting style is chaos in the best way possible. Unorthodox striking. Head movement that doesn't look like it should work but does. A willingness to stand in the pocket and trade when most fighters would clinch or take a step back. He fights like a man who's survived worse than anything a fist can do to him.

He beat Jacob Volkmann. He beat Al Iaquinta and earned Performance of the Night. He beat Tony Ferguson and earned Performance of the Night. He beat Grant Dawson and earned Performance of the Night. He fought Rafael Fiziev in a Fight of the Night war. He fought Lando Vannata TWICE and both fights were Fight of the Night.

Eight post fight bonuses across his UFC career. The man is a walking bonus check. The UFC brings him in because they know that no matter what happens, the fight is going to be entertaining. Win or lose, Bobby Green leaves everything in the cage every single time.

He took a short notice fight against Islam Makhachev in 2022 and lost in the first round. He'd fought two weeks earlier. Nobody expected him to win. He took the fight anyway because the money was good and because Bobby Green has never said no to a fight in his life.

His record isn't pretty. 35-17-1 after tonight. That's a lot of losses for a guy who's been around this long. But the record doesn't tell the story of a man who's been taking short notice fights, fighting killers on two weeks preparation, and competing at the highest level of the sport for over a decade while carrying the kind of personal trauma that would've broken most people ten times over.

King

In April 2023, Bobby announced he was legally retiring the name "Bobby Green." The name carried too much pain. Too much history. Too many memories of foster homes and funerals and phone calls he didn't want to remember.

In July 2024, the legal name change was finalized. He shared a video of his amended birth certificate. Bobby Ray Green was gone. King Green was official.

"King" had been his nickname for years. His walkout name. The thing the crowd chanted. But making it legal was different. That was a man at 37 years old deciding that he was done being defined by the worst things that happened to him and choosing a name that represented who he wanted to be instead of who the world tried to make him.

And tonight in Newark, King Green won again. Still fighting. Still showing up. Still giving the crowd everything he has because that's the only way he knows how to compete.

Tonight in Newark

King Green just submitted Jeremy Stephens in the first round on the main card of UFC 328.

Jeremy Stephens. The man who's been in the UFC since 2007. Who's fought Jose Aldo, Max Holloway, Frankie Edgar, and about thirty other killers across two decades. Stephens has been in more UFC fights than most active fighters have had professional bouts total. And Green put him away in round one.

Stephens came in 1-9 in his last ten MMA fights. Some people will say Green beat a washed fighter. Those people don't understand what it takes to submit a veteran like Stephens who's spent nineteen years learning how to survive in the Octagon. Stephens doesn't give up. He doesn't quit. Green made him quit.

Three straight wins now. A KO in February and a first round submission tonight. At 39 years old, King Green is on a streak and looking better than he has in years. The unorthodox striking was there. The grappling was sharp. And when the opening came, he took it and ended the fight before the second round even started.

After the fight he grabbed the mic and did what he always does. Gave the crowd everything he had left. Because that's who King Green is. The man who gives everything, every time, no matter what he's carrying into the cage.

What This Man Represents

MMA is full of tough guys. Everybody in the UFC is tough. You don't get to that level without being able to handle pain and pressure and violence.

But Bobby Green's toughness isn't physical. It's existential. Fifty foster homes. A mother on drugs. A father in prison. A mentor who betrayed him. A brother murdered in a driveway. A hit put out on his own life. And through all of it, he kept fighting. Not because fighting was the dream. Because fighting was the only thing that was his. The only place where the chaos in his life became something he could control.

He changed his name because he needed to let go of the kid who went through all of that. But the fighter who came out of it is still here. 39 years old. 35-17-1. Eight bonuses. A legal name change. And a first round submission win tonight at UFC 328.

Don't forget it. Remember who this man is. Remember where he came from. And remember that every time King Green walks to the cage, he's carrying more weight than any of us will ever know.

Thanks for riding with CageLore. Stay locked in!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Bobby "King" Green?

King Green (born Bobby Ray Green on September 9, 1986 in San Bernardino, California) is an American mixed martial artist competing in the UFC's lightweight division. He legally changed his name from Bobby Green to King Green in July 2024. His professional MMA record is 35-17-1 after submitting Jeremy Stephens in the first round at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026. He has earned eight post fight bonuses in the UFC.

Why did Bobby Green change his name?

Green announced in April 2023 that he would legally retire the name "Bobby Green" and transition to his longtime nickname. He confirmed the legal change in July 2024, sharing his amended birth certificate. The name change was about leaving behind the trauma associated with his former identity and embracing who he wanted to be.

What happened to Bobby Green's brother?

Green's younger brother Mitchell Davis Jr. was shot and killed in a drive by shooting in May 2014. Mitchell was in a driveway working on a car when a vehicle drove by and sprayed the area with bullets. Green's older brother Charles was also shot in a separate incident but survived.

Was there a hit put out on Bobby Green?

Yes. In 2014, following his brother Mitchell's death, Green learned that a hit had been put out on him. He slept on his coach's couch and feared for his family's safety while simultaneously preparing for UFC fights and caring for his newborn daughter.

What is Bobby Green known for as a fighter?

Green is known for his unorthodox, entertaining fighting style and his willingness to take short notice fights against top competition. He has earned eight post fight bonuses in the UFC including four Fight of the Night and three Performance of the Night awards. He's widely regarded as one of the most exciting fighters in the lightweight division.

Where did Bobby Green grow up?

Green grew up in the foster care system in Southern California's Inland Empire after being placed in care at age five. His father was incarcerated and his mother struggled with drug addiction. He estimates he lived in approximately 50 different homes before his early 20s.