Bobby Southworth

Bobby Southworth is one of the most veterans of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters, beginning his professional career in 1999 long before the sport experienced popularity in the United States. Southworth was born in Madison, Wisconsin and spent his formative years in Santa Cruz, California where he played basketball and did surfing. He was adopted by pacifist parents as a child, and started martial arts at age 25 after attending a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seminar with a friend. Southworth found out about MMA at age 26 when a friend showed him a tape of UFC 1: The Beginning (1993), and he became fascinated with Royce Gracie. Southworth started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) under the tutelage of Cesar Gracie, whose gym's location was near Southworth's home. He then spent some time training at a Ralph Gracie school, and later earned a black belt from Dave Camarillo. Southworth said he became aware that MMA was evolving beyond BJJ and wanted to work on his striking, which lead him to Javier Mendez at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose. Southworth also met and became friends with 'Crazy' Bob Cook who would become his manager. Southworth started competing in Northern California Gold Gloves boxing competitions and later help found a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program at AKA, becoming its head instructor. Southworth expanded his instructing to kickboxing and boxing, and later joined Mendez and Alex Khanbanian in opening American Kickboxing Academy Sunnyvale. Southworth had his first MMA bout at age 29 against veteran opponent Jason Godsey in the New Grounds promotion in late May 1999. Southworth loss by a choke submission in the first round, and four days after he got his first win defeating Bob Ostovich by TKO in the first round of Icon Sport's "SuperBrawl 12." Southworth took a year off from fighting then returned against Tobey Oberdine at "Warrior Challenge 14" in International Fighting Championship (IFC) to win by a rear-naked choke submission. Southworth earned his second submission victory by beating Ivan Sequet with strikes at "Bushido 1". In March 2001,he fought his most high profile bout at that point when he took on Vitor Belfort during Japan's Pride Fighting Championship 13's "Collision Course". Belfort was the aggressor with punches and kicks before taking Southworth to the ground. Southworth fought back to his feet and was quickly taken down by Belfort with a single-leg. During the transition to stand up, Belfort took control of Southworth's back and submitted him late in the first round by rear-naked choke. That following July Southworth defended the IFC title for the first time when he fought Floyd Sword. He won by technical knockout at the end of round three and won the IFC USA Light Heavyweight Championship. In his only bout in 2002, Southworth had his quickest loss getting knocked out by David Pa'aluhi in 16 seconds. He competed in Japan for the second time in his career by fighting Bryan Pardoe for the X-1 promotion in 2003. He won by technical knockout soon in the second round. Southworth returned to IFC for first bout in 2003 to defend the IFC title against Brian Vanderwalle on the "Big Valley Brawl" card. Southworth defended the title by way of an arm-bar after four minutes in round one. In 2004 Southworth was on the path to share wide recognition when was chosen to be among the original cast of The Ultimate Fighter (2005). (The program was taped in Fall 2004 and aired in Spring 2005. The bouts were considered exhibition bouts and not included on the fighters' professional records.) Southworth was selected to join Chuck Liddell's team of light-heavyweight and middleweight fighters opposing Randy Couture and his team. During the show, Southworth struggled to cut weight and had to be motivated by ally Josh Koscheck and their coach Liddell. Southworth and Koscheck teamed up at different times to take on the sometimes unpopular Chris Leben in the house. One incident had Southworth laughing and watching while Koscheck used a hose to spray water on Leben who was sleeping on the lawn. Southworth fought Lodune Sincaid and won by knockout to advance to the second round. He fought Stephan Bonnar and lost a split decision which eliminated him from the competition. An irate Southworth voiced his unhappiness with the decision, and that lead to a confrontation with UFC President Dana White. Southworth was kept around as a possible replacement for Forrest Griffin, who had a medical situation. Griffin was cleared to fight, and Southworth next competed against Sam Hoger on Ultimate Finale (2005), losing by unanimous decision. Southworth competed the next year in 2006 for the promotion Strikeforce (2006), which held its first MMA card in March 2006. (Strikeforce (2006) was a kickboxing promotion when its CEO Scott Coker founded it in 1994.) Southworth was booked in a catch-weight bout against James Irvin. When Southworth pushed Irvin against the unlocked door both of them fell outside the cage.The bout was ruled a "no contest" after 17 seconds due to a foot injury suffered by Irvin. Southworth later said he felt he should have won because Irvin's injury happened as a result of his actions inside the cage. His account contradicted Irvin's of how the injury happened. Southworth was booked in his second Strikeforce bout on its "Triple Threat" card against Vernon White in a match to crown a champion in the light-heavyweight division. Utilizing take-downs and ground control over five rounds, Southworth unanimously won in the scoring to become the inaugural Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion. On the promotion's first card at the Playboy Mansion, Southworth fought Bill Mahood in a non-championship bout. Mahood verbally submitted after a minute due to an injured rib. In another bout where the title was not at risk, Southworth fought Anthony Ruiz, who was a late replacement on the card at "4 Enter, 1 Survives". Southworth lead the first round by taking Ruiz to the ground and controlled his opponent, before Ruiz took him down later. Southworth got another takedown near the end of the round. Early in the second round Southworth was sent to his back when Ruiz hit him with a punching combination which cut him above his left eye. Referee Marcos Rosales intervened to have a cut above Southworth's left eye looked at by a doctor. The bout was stopped and Ruiz was declared the winner by technical knockout at 52 seconds in round two. In defeating Southworth, Ruiz earned an opportunity to challenge him for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson (2008). Southworth and Ruiz fight was characterized by a battle for dominant positions on the ground, after they took turns taking each other down. Some fans in attendance voiced their derision with the slow pace of the bout, although Southworth did threaten Ruiz with bout-ending triangle choke and kimura submissions. The fight ended with Southworth defending the title from a unanimous decision by the three judges. In the post-fight press conference, Southworth said his performance was affected by some of his ribs and a toe being injured during training two weeks before the bout. Newly signed Renato Sobral (Babalu) was touted as the next challenger for the championship held by Southworth. A title fight planned for September 2008 at the promotion's second Playboy Mansion event was cancelled because of problems Southworth experienced with his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and meniscus while training. Anthony Ruiz was booked to replace Southworth against Sobral, until Sobral had his own knee issues which required surgery in August. Southworth and Sobral fought in November 2008 at Strikeforce: Destruction (2008). Sobral quickly pushed Southworth in the cage, and Southworth reversed the position then took him to the ground and controlled the action. Babalu returned to his feet and the two battled for dominant positions against the cage. Babalu left elbow strikes cut above Southworth's right eye. With under 30 seconds remaining in the round, referee John McCarthy stopped the bout for a physician to inspect the leaky cut above Southworth's eye. The fight was allowed to continue and Southworth caught a right kick from Sobral then threw him to the ground and attacked from top. Following the advice from the cage-side physician, McCarthy stopped the bout and declared Sobral the winner and new champion by technical knockout at the end of the first round. Following the bout in a post-fight interview with Ron Kruck, Babalu was receptive to a rematch for the title. There was not a second bout between the two, and Southworth never again competed in Strikeforce, implying in a latter interview that he left because the promotion's offer were below expectations. In October 2009, Southworth unsuccessfully tried to join the cast of the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter (2005) which focused on middleweight fighters. His first bout since losing the Strikeforce title happened in the Australian promotion XMMA (Extreme MMA) in 2010, where he defeated Aaron Boynes by technical knockout in the first round. Southworth stated that his infrequent fights have been due to the lack of opportunities presented to him. He moved to San Antonio to help open and become the head instructor for a new branch of American Kickboxing Academy: AKA Texas.